"Van Aert and Vingegaard will retire in a few years..." - Visma's development of Matthew Brennan instrumental to its success says former pro Bobbie Traksel

Team Visma | Lease a Bike do not have the financial capacity to match the likes of UAE, Lidl-Trek or Red Bull - BORA at the moment however they have in Matthew Brennan perhaps the key to their future. After the era of Wout van Aert and Jonas Vingegaard, the Briton may take the lead in the Dutch team.

"In the future, Brennan will undoubtedly become a very big rider, but generally speaking, the second year in the WorldTour is the toughest," former pro and current Dutch commentator Bobbie Traksel said on the Kop over Kop podcast. "In the first year, everything is new and exciting, but in the second year, you have to prove yourself, which is often even harder."

Brennan, in his neo-pro season, showed great potential also in the classics last year. Most notably he was up front together with the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogacar at the exit of the Trouée d'Arenberg. Whilst being a sprinter, he can also climb and has proven to be very strong at explosive yet longer efforts.

He enters this spring with a different role, potentially as the leader in races such as Kuurne - Bruxelles - Kuurne and Middelkerke - Wevelgem; whilst having protected status in others, such as this Sautrday's Omloop het Nieuwsblad where he can be a potential winner if he survives the climbs.

Traksel does put more confidence into his French teammate, winner of the opening stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia: "Before the crash, my feeling was that Laporte would do better anyway, but even after his crash, I would still go for Laporte."

The two will be joined by Wout van Aert who begins his season in Belgium, however with unknown form after suffering an ankle fracture during the winter. Visma have cards to play however, and they will want Brennan to have freedom so he can begin to challenge for these types of races already.

"This is what the team is built on. Van Aert and Vingegaard will retire in a few years, and this is truly the brilliant young man who can make a splash at Visma in the coming years," Traksel argues. The 20-year old has taken 12 wins in his first season on the elites and this includes uphill and GC triumphs besides sprint victories; which in themselves include already leadout work from Wout van Aert.

Traksel jokes about the hypotetical scenario of Wout van Aert and Matthew Brennan getting to choose who would win Paris-Roubaix between the two, but that in such case there would be little thinking about who would take it. "If Van Aert has to sprint with Brennan for the win, [Richard] Plugge will probably say 'let Van Aert win, that's what I'll pay him for. If Brennan wins, he'll just come and ask me for money'."