Matthew Brennan content with second place on Volta a Catalunya day two: "To still come second and also keep the leader's jersey is already very nice"
Cycling
After claiming a breakthrough victory on Stage 1, Matthew Brennan couldn’t quite replicate the magic on Tuesday, finishing second behind Ethan Vernon on Stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya. The 19-year-old rising star from Team Visma | Lease a Bike still retains the overall lead and continues to impress in his first full season at the WorldTour level.
Vernon, riding for Israel–Premier Tech, came out on top in a chaotic bunch sprint, using his raw power and positioning to secure the win. Brennan, despite getting boxed in during the finale, showed remarkable poise and strength to recover and launch a late surge to the line.
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"It was quite chaotic," Brennan told CyclingProNet after the stage. "I was in a good wheel, after which I wanted to go around the riders. Then I got a bit stuck. I eventually got around them, but unfortunately it wasn't enough."
The disappointment was clear, but so too was the maturity in his reflection as he still managed to defeat Kaden Groves. "I also felt good at the finish, so I'm a bit disappointed that I could start so late. That's cycling, you know. To still come second and also keep the leader's jersey is already very nice."
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- agreed. flanders is a beast. i like tadej, but i’m full on rooting for mathieu next sunday.OCexile29-03-2025
- Indeed, strong as ever on the flat, maybe stronger on climbs. There are very few records within reach for contemporary riders (Cabendish had to extend his career to get his and took twice as long as Merckx to equality), this would be one that would be very hard to take away.Mistermaumau29-03-2025
- I thought newspeak was condensing any statement into the smallest number of pertinent words.Mistermaumau29-03-2025
- flanders is mvdp’s favorite race and he’s one win away from being the lone record holder with 4 wins. i’d be very surprised if the gap that pogačar opened in him there 2 years ago wasn’t THE major focus of all his training. and when mathieu has a goal, he turns himself inside out to achieve it. we’ll see next week if he got there, but i’d agree with van avermat’s assessment of van der poel’s fitness.OCexile29-03-2025
- It’s almost like newspeak. It’s classics season, Pogacar’s main rival has always been van der Poel. Then grand tour season will begin, and we will pivot mid sentence and Pogacar’s main rival will have always been Vingegaard. What a season this promises to be. Let’s hope they stay healthy (and Vingegaard gets past the concussion).RidesHills29-03-2025
- Great that he’s decided to do Flanders though his weight remark is irrelevant, Mads is proportionately heavier and MVDP has the same weight but is around 10cm shorter.Mistermaumau29-03-2025
- Yeah, looks slow up there.Jumpyjohn28-03-2025
- lol His aim was well off! MVP was well past him before the guy decided to spit.Cyclingsbestfan28-03-2025
- But you know that’s what makes this website live ;-)Mistermaumau28-03-2025
- I hope he stays upright too and I hope that in this years Paris Roubaix we get a proper good old fashioned man against man race. Can't wait!Cyclingsbestfan28-03-2025