DISCUSSION Renewi Tour Stage 2 & Deutschland Tour Stage 1 | Is Visma the most complete team in the World Tour?

The second stage of both the Renewi Tour and the Deutschland Tour took place today, and we got to see two exciting bunch sprint finishes. In Belgium, the peloton had to face constant crosswinds that led to echelons. Riders like Mathieu van der Poel and Tim Wellens tried to surprise the peloton by trying aggressive surprise moves, but the bunch maintained control of the race and the sprinters battled it out in the final sprint.

Olav Kooij redeemed himself after crashing yesterday and secured a prestigious victory that puts him second in the overall classification. Tim Merlier arrived as the undisputed favourite, seeking his second consecutive victory in the race, but there was nothing he could do against Kooij’s power, and he ended in 6th.

In Germany, we witnessed a dramatic photo finish featuring Jonathan Milan and Matthew Brennan. The Italian was initially declared the winner, but moments later the jury reversed their decision and Brennan was awarded the victory. The Brit is now 3rd in the overall classification, and Danny van Poppel becomes the new leader of the Deutschland Tour.

Once the stages finished, we asked some of our writers to share their thoughts and main takeaways about what happened today.

Regrettable what happened today at the Tour of Germany. And I don’t blame the organizers, because these are things that can happen in a race; I blame the UCI for not having an established protocol, a standardized VAR system like in football or Formula 1 to determine with precision and without the risk of mistakes the winner of a race.

We are in 2025, in an important event, and you cannot tell a rider like Jonathan Milan that he has won and then that he hasn’t. You cannot tell a spectator who turns off the TV after seeing a stage that one rider has won, only to find out later that it was another.

Great comeback, on the other hand, from Matthew Brennan, which is the only reasonable explanation for letting go of a rider like Olav Kooij, who every time he races against big rivals always manages to snatch a victory, as he did against Tim Merlier today in the second stage of the Renewi Tour.

From the Movistar Team’s perspective, yet another embarrassment this season for Fernando Gaviria, who today didn’t even make it into the top 10 of the stage.

What a chaotic stage in the Renewi Tour. Crosswinds, echelons, breaks, a fragmented peloton. If the race was tepid until the entrance to the final circuit, once there, the race exploded completely. Rui Oliveira still went for the green sprint and won a second bonus, leaving him just 1 behind Tim Merlier's yellow jersey. The dizzying speed of the peloton meant that no one dared to go to the front of the race.

Nor did the wind allow it, as it was head-on in many parts of the course. Just ask Tim Wellens, who tried to break away twice, with Lidl-Trek always on his tail, never allowing him a metre's advantage. In the final sprint, the disorganisation was total. When everyone was expecting a repeat performance from Tim Merlier, 500 metres from the finish line, a man in yellow, who was in 11th position, made an imperial breakaway. Coming from behind, Olav Kooij gave his opponents no chance, escaping from the left to the right in sublime fashion, putting all his power into the pedals and raising his arms.

In the Tour of Germany, the race commissaires made a shameful decision. Was there any doubt that Matthew Brenan had won the stage? How was it possible to give the victory to Milan? It was two victories in one day for Visma...

Today was an extremely prolific day for Team Visma | Lease a Bike. Two sprints in Belgium and Germany, and two stage wins for them. Olav Kooij continues to show that he is an underrated sprinter, and he can beat anyone when he is at his best. This was his 7th win of the season (he has 43 in his career, even though he is just 23 years old).

Kooij will leave the team at the end of the season (rumor has it he’ll join Decathlon), but I’m not sure Visma will miss him too much with Matthew Brennan in their ranks. Let’s look at the numbers: the young Brit just claimed his 10th victory of the season, and of his career. Remember, he only turned 20 recently, and this is his very first year as a professional. Some critics argued that he hadn’t yet beaten a “serious” sprinter and that we needed to give him time before considering him among the elite.

Well, today he beat Jonathan Milan (arguably the best sprinter in the world). Brennan has already proven that he belongs among the very best sprinters in the peloton, and team Visma is right by handing him the keys to the team for the coming years.

This brings us to the next point: who will be the face of Visma in the coming years: Vingegaard or Brennan? I believe that both stars might be able to coexist in the same environment (although it will be difficult for Brennan to go to any Grand Tour where Vingegaard competes). We’ll see how Brennan’s development progresses, but he could become an improved version of Van Aert if everything stays the same. He has a better tip of speed than the Belgian, and he has already proved that he performs well in small climbs.

UAE is right now the most dominant team (by far) with the highest number of victories, but Visma are the more complete squad. They have the ability to win Grand Tours, top-level sprints, and virtually any other type of race, like the biggest classics. Having a world-class sprinter is the only thing UAE currently lacks, but perhaps that would be a bit too unfair for the rest of the peloton.