Remember this name: Matthew Brennan. The 18-year-old British rider is expected to be one of the best sprinters of the next generation and has quickly proven his talents and speed, even amongst the professionals.
Racing for Visma-Lease A Bike's development team, Brennan sprinted to third place behind Arnaud De Lie and Axel Zingle at the end of the Circuit de Wallonie on Thursday, beating a host of other WorldTour riders, including Jake Stewart and Luca Mozzato, in the bunch finish in Charleroi.
"This feels really good," Brennan said after his third place. "The race went perfectly for us. We were constantly at the front and Loe van Belle made sure we didn't have to waste much energy in the peloton.
"The last kilometres were pretty hectic. I managed to follow Tosh Van der Sande's wheel and after Per did a good turn at the front, I got ready for the sprint."
Stewart, at 24 still a promising rider himself, launched the sprint on the final straight of the hilly 184km race before Zingle moved up alongside him with Brennan and De Lie lined up in his slipstream.
The pair both hit the wind in the final 100 metres as Stewart faded, with De Lie pulling past to grab the win as Brennan finished alongside Zingle but a touch behind his front wheel, to secure third.
"I went in with a lot of confidence because halfway through the race I felt I had good legs," Brennan said. "To be honest, I didn't expect to finish on the podium. That's why I'm very happy about it.
"You pick up from everything and learn from the best riders in the world. That makes it a lot easier for the next races."
The Visma racer is new to the Dutch team after joining from British junior team Fensham Howes over the winter – having also been supported by the Rayner Foundation during his development.
He's combined road and track during his career so far, last year becoming a junior world champion in the latter discipline in both individual pursuit and the Madison (alongside Bradley Wiggins' son Ben).
"The guys took control of the race and rode courageously," Visma-Lease A Bike directeur sportif Arthur van Dongen said. "Loe was perhaps the strongest man today and Matthew was very close to victory.
"There was certainly no shame in finishing third behind De Lie. All in all it was a very good day and gives a lot of confidence for the future."
A winner of the Guido Reybrouck Classic and Keizer des Juniores in 2023, Brennan has already taken wins at the Croatian 1.2 one-day races, the Trofeo Umag and Trofeo Poreč this season.
Now, having beaten the likes of Paul Penhoët, Luca Mozzato, and Jake Stewart in Wallonie, he'll continue his development by mixing U23 races with spells alongside the professionals.
Brennan is contracted with the development squad through 2025 and will hope in future to make the jump to the WorldTour, much like former Visma development riders including Finn Fisher-Black (UAE Team Emirates), Johannes Staune-Mittet, Olav Kooij (Visma-Lease-A Bike), Archie Ryan (EF Education-EasyPost), and Lars Boven (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
