Matthew Brennan makes history with fifth Vuelta a Espana stage win
British starlet Matthew Brennan made history with victory on stage 17 of the Vuelta a Espana, becoming the youngest rider ever to win five stages in a grand tour and the youngest to claim back-to-back Vuelta stages – all in his debut three-week race.
He follows in the footsteps of decorated sprinter Marcel Kittel, who won five stages of the Vuelta in the 2017 edition, and is also only the second British rider to win four or more stages in the same grand tour, after the legendary Mark Cavendish.
On the flattest stage of this year’s race, a 185km run from Dos Hermanas to Seville, Brennan was always going to be the heavy favourite.
Rather than capitalising on a leadout from his Visma-Lease a Bike squad, this time he surfed the wheels of his rivals in the closing kilometre and launched his sprint from the wheel of Magnus Cort, who ultimately came third.
Jordi Meeus, a former winner on the Champs-Elysees at the Tour de France, came second, a clear bike-length behind 21-year-old Brennan.
Brennan said: “It’s fantastic for me. We’re a long way into this race now and today was the day where we could make history in our team. In terms of the win again, it’s really cool to do that. We did everything in our power to get there.”
The Brit’s win also made it seven for Visma-Lease a Bike in this Vuelta, the most stages the team has ever won in a grand tour, with Van Aert claiming two for himself.
There were no changes to the overall standings, with the race favourites all crossing the line in the peloton ahead of a crucial three days in the general classification battle.
The top 10 could be radically reorganised by the end of Thursday’s stage 18, with the riders set to tackle a 32km individual time trial from El Puerto de Santa Maria to Jerez de la Frontera in the biggest challenge to Enric Mas’ overall lead yet.
