Matthew Brennan - Britain's Vuelta sprint star

 

AN extraordinary Vuelta A’Espana won at last by three times runner-up Spain’s Enrico Mas on Sunday also launched a new British star onto the World Pro Tour scene.

 

This is Darlington’s Matthew Brennan, 21, winning five stages – three of them back to back -  in his Grand Tour debut with Visma-Lease-a-Bike, a record for one so young.

Matthew Brennan

With Oscar Onley finishing 6^th overall and best young rider, the pair are leading a new wave of British talent.

In fact on the very first stage time trial another talented Brit, Ethan Hayter almost took the first red jersey as leader until beaten by fractions of a second by World Champion Tadej Pogacar. who would crash out eight stages later.

Third was another home rider, Justin Tarling, riding to honour his late brother Finley, killed by a non-race vehicle during the Tour of Portugal, a tragedy that shook the sport. Justin retired a few days later.

 It should come as no surprise to learn that the famous Dave Rayner Fund charity had a hand in setting Onley and Brennan on their paths, although they are quick to point out that Brennan was only briefly in need of funding before being snapped up, as Joscelin Ryan of the Rayner Fund explained.

 “Yes in a kind of way he (Brennan) was (a Rayner rider)! It didn’t last long though, he was just too good!

“As a junior he was a member of Giles Pidcocks Fensham Howes Team and travelled to Europe with the team supported by the RF Gateway Scheme.

“When he turned Under 23 he applied to be funded to live abroad and we accepted him.

“But immediately he started his season in February he won two UCI races and it became obvious he was something special and started riding with the WT team more and more.

So support from RF became unnecessary and he graduated.

And now everyone knows how good he is.

“He is very good at returning support, for instance sending a jersey to the Dinner each year.”

 

(This year’s fund raising dinner, the biggest social do on the home calendar,  is on November 7 in Leeds – details below).

 Brennan showed early promise in winning Belgian classic Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne in 2025.

Inevitably, he is being hailed as the new Mark Cavendish, the recently retired winner of a record 35 sprint stages of the Tour de France during his illustrious career. Cavendish’s first stage win came in 2008 when Brennan was three, and still riding in his pram. There is a difference between them, Brennan pointed out. He can hold his own in the mountains whereas Cav, like many sprinters, could not.

Brennan said he felt honoured to be compared with him.

 The big story of this year’s Vuelta of course was the abandonment after a severe crash of Slovenia’s world champion Tadej Pogacar on stage eight, which completely changed the race dynamic. His famous exploits and long lone breakaways to win classics and Tours alike are astonishing and hugely entertaining. But he leaves the rest struggling, and he was doing this in the Vuelta until a cruel twist of fate took him out. It was his first serious injury, and he has been adapt at evading pile ups.

Pogacar, the race leader since the beginning of the race had a healthy overall lead, when he hit a stone in the road and went down hard, sustaining serious cuts and fractures. He was unable to continue and was instead taken to hospital.

 With him gone, the Vuelta became a much closer race, with Mas, plus four times winner Roglic back in the frame, also Gall, Carapaz and Kuss and  Onley also looked likely for a podium place for a while. Mas countered their every move.

Mas, second overall when Pogacar fell, and the only rider thus far to stay with Pogacar  on a mountainous stage days before, looked uneasy at inheriting the red jersey this way. But his stage win the following day – stage nine -  proved he was a worthy leader and he never faltered for the rest of the race.

  His overall victory gave Movistar their first Vuelta win since Nairo Quintana in 2016.

The final stage in Granada on Sunday was won by Norway’s Johannessen, with Brennan fourth a few seconds behind after he and others missed the move in the last kilometre.

And we cannot overlook Ireland’s Eddie
Dunbar who won the mountainous stage 19, at 210km,  the longest stage of this year’s race.

 The 31^st anniversary Rayner Foundation Charity dinner.

November 7 2026 at Queens Hotel, Leeds.

Includes the Live Auction of cycling memorabilia.

For ticket details follow this link. -

THE RAYNER FOUNDATION CHARITY DINNER - 2026 | Rayner Foundation