“I don’t know where these questions keep coming from” - Wout van Aert pushes back on Visma leadership debate after Matthew Brennan sacrifice

Wout van Aert has dismissed questions over Team Visma | Lease a Bike’s leadership after Matthew Brennan put his own ambitions aside to work for the Belgian on Stage 10 of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana.

Brennan had already won two stages during the opening part of the race, but there was no ambiguity over Visma’s plan in Elche de la Sierra. This time Van Aert was given his opportunity, with the 21-year-old Briton playing a central role in trying to deliver him to the uphill sprint.

The work ultimately went unrewarded. Bastien Tronchon sprung a major surprise to beat Magnus Cort and Thibau Nys, while Van Aert could only recover to fourth after entering the decisive part of the finale too far back.

Asked afterwards about the leadership situation alongside Brennan, Van Aert was slightly irritated. “I don’t know where these questions keep coming from,” he told Sporza. “Matthew was also the first rider to guide me into the Forest of Arenberg at Paris-Roubaix. Matthew is a great guy and we’ve already helped each other many times. I had absolutely no doubt that my moment would come.”

Brennan’s two victories had made him one of Visma’s most successful riders of the race so far, but Stage 10 provided another demonstration of the different roles available to him within the team.

With Mads Pedersen dropped before the finish, Visma increasingly committed to Van Aert. Brennan repeatedly contributed as attacks came and went before being required to make a prolonged chase when Walter Calzoni escaped late.

By the time the Italian was brought back, Brennan’s work was effectively done and Van Aert was left to negotiate an increasingly chaotic finale without the organised lead-out Visma had hoped to provide. “You want to finish it off, and in the sprint there just wasn’t enough left in my legs,” Van Aert said. “For a long time the stage seemed easy enough to control, but in the final 30 kilometres it became chaotic and I really needed all my teammates to make sure it came down to a sprint.”

Van Aert reserved only praise for the riders who had spent the day working towards his chance. “I can’t blame the guys for anything. Everyone gave 100 per cent,” he said, before stressing how difficult the stage had been to control. “We went for it on a stage that was difficult to control, and on top of that without any real allies apart from Cofidis. Those are the hardest days.”

He then returned to the work of his teammates. “Chapeau to all my teammates. I’m super grateful for the opportunity, but it didn’t work out.”

The decisive problem came after Visma had already completed much of the work required to create a sprint. Van Aert approached the final corner, around 650 metres from the line, further back than he wanted and was forced into a substantial effort simply to regain contact with the riders fighting for victory.

“I need to watch it back again, but maybe I made a few wrong choices with my positioning,” he admitted. “At the final corner, with 650 metres to go, I was definitely too far back. I already had to do half a sprint there just to fight my way into position, and after that there was nothing left for a proper sprint. I’m annoyed about it.”

The missed opportunity did nothing to alter his view of the arrangement with Brennan. “The whole team gave everything, and if we continue like this, we will keep being successful. I’m sure of that.”

Brennan therefore finished Stage 10 without adding to his own two victories, having instead spent the finale trying to create another for Van Aert. For the green jersey, that was simply another example of a partnership which had already worked in both directions long before the Vuelta.