Matthew Brennan of Team Visma-Lease a Bike sprinted to victory in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday, marking a significant morale boost for the Dutch squad after a challenging start to the season. The 20-year-ancient Briton finished ahead of Luca Mozzato of Tudor Pro Cycling and Matteo Trentin, as well of Tudor, in a decisive sprint finish.
Brennan’s win comes after a difficult weekend for Visma-Lease a Bike, which has faced setbacks with key riders Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert. The team had secured only two victories prior to Sunday’s race, adding to the pressure for a strong performance. Brennan’s triumph represents his second win of the 2026 season, following a stage victory at the Santos Tour Down Under.
“I have ridden this race twice as a junior,” Brennan said after the race. “We have always stood at the finish line and watched all the pros at the time come through and do their race. So to be in that situation now where I can finally say I can put my hands up in the air and I have actually won the pro race is fantastic.”
The race saw Brennan briefly losing position, but he credited his team, particularly Pietro Mattio, for bringing him back into contention. “I was caught out a little bit. All day I was just a little bit nervous after yesterday’s crash [in the Omloop Nieuwsblad]. I would say I hit the floor pretty hard. And unfortunately I was caught out, but I had a great guy Pietro Mattio who really burnt all his bullets to bring me back,” he explained. “Then from there I was able to move forward and get in the move with all the guys. We just went full gas, we really wanted to make it hard. We knew we were in the best situation possible there. We took the initiative and I am so happy that it paid off.”
Despite being in only his second professional season, Brennan has already accumulated 14 victories, including stage wins in the Volta a Catalunya, Tour de Romandie, Tour de Pologne, and the Tour Down Under, as well as the overall title at the Tour of Norway. His versatility, combining sprinting prowess with the ability to perform on challenging terrain, positions him as a rider to watch in upcoming races.
“This is my first one. Hopefully there is more to come. That is the ambition anyway,” Brennan stated, expressing his aspirations to compete in the spring classics, including Flanders, and Roubaix. “Flanders, Roubaix, all these races. They are all super iconic. One day I would love to put my hands up in the air in one of them. It might take a while, but we will give it our best shot.”
In the women’s race, Charlotte Kool of Team Fenix-Premier Tech secured her first victory of the season at the Fenix-Ekoï Omloop van het Hageland. Kool outpaced Lara Gillespie of UAE Team ADQ and Shari Bossuyt of AG Insurance-Soudal in a close sprint finish. The race was marked by a late attack from a breakaway group featuring Marta Lach, Karlijn Swinkels, and Flora Perkins, who were ultimately caught by the bunch inside the final kilometer. Lidl-Trek’s Elisa Balsamo crashed with 5km remaining, ending her chances of contention.
