Matthew Brennan becomes youngest rider to win five stages at one Grand Tour at La Vuelta

Matthew Brennan becomes youngest rider to win five stages at one Grand Tour at La Vuelta

The 21-year-old has combined pure speed with climbing resilience on his Vuelta debut, backed by a Visma operation that has repeatedly put him in position to win.

By Tim Bonville-Ginn · · 4 min read

Matthew Brennan (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) won stage 17 of the Vuelta a España in Seville, securing his fifth victory on his Grand Tour debut.

The 21-year-old passed Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) before holding off Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) at the end of the 185km stage from Dos Hermanas. He is the first sprinter since Marcel Kittel in 2017 to win five stages at one Grand Tour.

Brennan is also the youngest rider to take five stage wins in the same Grand Tour and is the first rider to take five stage wins on La Vuelta debut since Fons De Wolf in 1979. Adding to that, his wins on stages 16 and 17 made him the youngest rider ever to win back-to-back Vuelta stages.

Results

Sep 9

Velora
PosRiderTeamTime
🥇
Matthew James Brennan
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE4:07:15
🥈
Jordi Meeus
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:00
🥉
Magnus Nielsen
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:00
4
Alessandro Romele
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:00
5
Steffen de Schuyteneer
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+0:00
6
Axel Laurance
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:00
7
Pau Miquel Delgado
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
8
Cesar Macias Estrada
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+0:00
9
Hugo Hofstetter
NSN CYCLING TEAM+0:00
10
Bryan Coquard
COFIDIS+0:00
11
Alberto Dainese
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:00
12
Alessandro Covi
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:00
13
Vito Braet
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+0:00
14
Rasmus Tiller
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:00
15
Milan Vader
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
16
Ivan Cobo Cayon
EQUIPO KERN PHARMA+0:00
17
Marc Brustenga Masague
EQUIPO KERN PHARMA+0:00
18
Bastien Tronchon
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:00
19
Wout van Aert
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:00
20
Yevgeniy Fedorov
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:00
21
Iñigo Elosegui Momeñe
EQUIPO KERN PHARMA+0:00
22
Michael Gogl
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+0:00
23
Timo de Jong
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+0:00
24
Stefan Küng
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
25
Jasha Sütterlin
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:00
26
Olivier le Gac
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:00
27
Fabian Weiss
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
28
Gijs Leemreize
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+0:00
29
Alexis Renard
COFIDIS+0:00
30
Clement Alleno
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+0:00
31
Andreas Leknessund
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:00
32
Gianni Moscon
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:00
33
James Shaw
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+0:00
34
Richard Antonio Carapaz Montenegro
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+0:00
35
Orluis Alberto Aular Sanabria
MOVISTAR TEAM+0:00
36
Primož Roglič
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:00
37
Enric Mas Nicolau
MOVISTAR TEAM+0:00
38
Clément Berthet
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:00
39
Henok Mulueberhan
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:00
40
Jakob Omrzel
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
41
Finlay Xavier Pickering
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:00
42
Valentin Madouas
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:00
43
Matevž Govekar
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
44
Callum Scotson
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:00
45
Emanuel Buchmann
COFIDIS+0:00
46
Sander de Pestel
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:00
47
Bruno Armirail
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:00
48
Gal Glivar
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+0:00
49
Felix Gall
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:00
50
Oscar Chamberlain
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:00
51
Patrick Konrad
LIDL-TREK+0:00
52
Rudy Porter
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:00
53
Fabio van den Bossche
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:00
54
Guillaume Martin Guyonnet
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:00
55
Sepp Kuss
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:00
56
Jacopo Mosca
LIDL-TREK+0:00
57
Léo Bisiaux
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:00
58
Lawrence Warbasse
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
59
Koen Bouwman
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:00
60
Oscar Onley
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:00
61
Embret Svestad-Bårdseng
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:00
62
Julien Bernard
LIDL-TREK+0:00
63
Mattias Skjelmose Jennow Jensen
LIDL-TREK+0:00
64
Cristian Rodriguez Martin
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:00
65
Jose Luis Faura Asensio
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+0:00
66
Mathijs Paasschens
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
67
Matthew Riccitello
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:00
68
Ethan Edward Hayter
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:00
69
Gianmarco Garofoli
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:00
70
Mario Aparicio Muñoz
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+0:00
71
Christopher Hamilton
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+0:00
72
Urko Berrade Fernandez
EQUIPO KERN PHARMA+0:00
73
Fredrik Dversnes
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:00
74
Roland Thalmann
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
75
Juan Felipe Rodriguez Contreras
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+0:00
76
Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+0:00
77
Pau Marti Soriano
NSN CYCLING TEAM+0:00
78
Harold Alfonso Tejada Canacue
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:00
79
Jan Hirt
NSN CYCLING TEAM+0:00
80
Lorenzo Rota
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+0:00
81
Filippo Zana
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:00
82
Rudy Molard
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:00
83
Hannes Wilksch
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
84
Darren van Bekkum
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:00
85
Roman Ermakov
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
86
Kevin Vermaerke
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+0:00
87
Asbjørn Hellemose
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:00
88
Frederik Wandahl
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:00
89
Carlos Rodriguez Cano
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:00
90
Mathias Norsgaard
LIDL-TREK+0:00
91
Santiago Buitrago Sanchez
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
92
Lennard Kämna
LIDL-TREK+0:00
93
Thomas Gloag
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
94
Rémy Rochas
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:00
95
Marco Brenner
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
96
Juan Martinez Huertas
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+0:00
97
Attila Valter
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
98
Lorenzo Fortunato
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:00
99
Mikel Landa Meana
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:00
100
Andreas Lorentz Kron
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:00
101
Tobias Halland Johannessen
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:00
102
Pello Bilbao Lopez de Armentia
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
103
Ibon Ruiz Sedano
EQUIPO KERN PHARMA+0:00
104
Carlos Canal Blanco
MOVISTAR TEAM+0:33
105
Marcel Camprubi Pijuan
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:37
106
Paul Ourselin
COFIDIS+0:48
107
Raul Garcia Pierna
MOVISTAR TEAM+0:48
108
Reuben Thompson
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+0:55
109
Lars Craps
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+0:55
110
Jesus Herrada Lopez
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+0:55
111
Thibau Nys
LIDL-TREK+0:55
112
Valentin Paret Peintre
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:55
113
Lucas Wade Hamilton
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:55
114
Gianni Vermeersch
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:55
115
Finn Lachlan Fox Fisher-Black
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:55
116
Luke Tuckwell
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:55
117
Martin Tjøtta
UNO-X MOBILITY+1:12
118
Simon Dalby
UNO-X MOBILITY+1:12
119
Mauri Vansevenant
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+1:12
120
Nicholas Schultz
NSN CYCLING TEAM+1:21
121
Ivo Emanuel Alves Oliveira
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+1:25
122
Steven Kruijswijk
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+1:25
123
William Barta
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+1:25
124
Jack Leonard Haig
NETCOMPANY INEOS+1:25
125
Jørgen Nordhagen
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+1:25
126
Edward Dunbar
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+1:25
127
David de la Cruz Melgarejo
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+1:25
128
Ramses Debruyne
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+1:30
129
Callum Thornley
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+1:34
130
Mats Wenzel
EQUIPO KERN PHARMA+1:46
131
Jarno Widar
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+1:46
132
Paul Double
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+1:46
133
Vincenzo Albanese
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+2:13
134
Jorge Arcas Peña
MOVISTAR TEAM+2:13
135
Walter Calzoni
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+2:13
136
Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo
EQUIPO KERN PHARMA+2:13
137
Joao Pedro Gonçalves Almeida
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+2:13
138
Domen Novak
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+2:13
139
Enzo Paleni
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+2:30
140
Georg Steinhauser
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+2:30
141
Darren Rafferty
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+2:48
142
Alastair Mackellar
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+2:48
143
Xabier Mikel Azparren Irurzun
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
144
Sylvain Moniquet
COFIDIS+6:57
145
Louis Rouland
COFIDIS+6:57
146
Sergio Samitier Samitier
COFIDIS+6:57
147
Sinuhe Fernandez Rodriguez
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+7:17
148
Ivan Romeo Abad
MOVISTAR TEAM+10:11
149
Pablo Castrillo Zapater
MOVISTAR TEAM+10:11

Stage 16 was a perfect demonstration of Brennan’s versatility as the Briton won the stage to La Rabida which contained 2,250 metres of climbing along the way. Visma controlled the break all day before Wout van Aert (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) delivered Brennan into clear space for the sprint.

The 21-year-old from Darlington came into his first Grand Tour with seven wins to his name in 2026 having won 14 races during his first professional season the year prior. He beat Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) twice at the Deutschland Tour and Biniam Girmay (NSN Cycling Team) at Rund um Köln. He also won at the Tour de Romandie after more than 3,000 metres of climbing and on a 7% finish at the Tour of Norway.

His Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne victory in March supplied further evidence. Brennan survived the cobbled Mont Saint Laurent and subsequent attacks before Visma controlled the final five kilometres for a reduced sprint.

To say that Brennan is dominating La Vuelta’s sprints only because of a depleted field underestimates his talent. Granted, his main rivals Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech) both abandoned the race after poor displays, leaving behind Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) as his main rivals. That suggests Brennan may have had it a bit easier, but his results against Milan and Girmay, along with his wins on selective courses, show that his speed has also held up against stronger opposition elsewhere.

Visma built its Vuelta sprint plan around two finishers

Visma arrived with Brennan designated for conventional sprints and Van Aert given freedom on more selective finishes. “I’m convinced we’ll both get our opportunities,” Van Aert said before the race. “The way the race unfolds will determine which card we play.”

On stage 2, Van Aert attacked in the closing kilometres and forced the peloton to chase before Brennan completed the sprint. The roles changed on stage 10, when Brennan helped contain attacks ahead of an uphill finish intended for Van Aert.

Van Aert then took responsibility for the decisive part of the stage 16 lead-out, moving to the front with 600 metres remaining. “I really trusted Wout and followed his wheel all the way,” Brennan said. Visma again spent long periods controlling the break on stage 17 before Brennan finished the job in Seville.

Both have worked superbly together with Brennan working hard for Van Aert in the harder sprint stages and in the breaks with Van Aert giving back that support on the clear days for the Brit as well as in the breaks as the duo continue to compliment each other extremely well. They haven’t lost their strength in the lead-out either, despite losing Christophe Laporte.

Brennan has achieved the results while managing coeliac disease, an autoimmune condition that requires strict avoidance of gluten. He brought that reality into view after refusing the traditional podium beer following his Kuurne victory. “I’m a coeliac so I cannot have gluten,” Brennan explained at the time. “And if I had that, then that would be season over for me.”

For a rider competing and recovering across three weeks, that restriction adds another consideration to every meal, drink and piece of race nutrition. It is just another thing to add to how impressive a rider Brennan already is with a very bright future ahead of him.

Stage 21 in Granada provides the clearest remaining opportunity for a sixth win. Its 112km route covers a finishing circuit four times, with each lap containing a partly cobbled 2.1km climb averaging 6.6%. The final ascent ends 7.8km from the line, giving Brennan a chance if he can bring his climbing strength into another reduced sprint.

Tim Bonville-Ginn headshot

Tim Bonville-Ginn

Pro cycling contributor

Tim Bonville-Ginn is a freelance writer who has worked in cycling for well over a decade with his articles being featured across publications such as Cyclingnews, Cycling Weekly, Cyclist, Rouleur, Eurosport, Road cc, Domestique, and more.

As well as writing, Tim has worked as a social media and press manager for professional teams Human Powered Health, Global 6, and Saint Piran across Europe as well as commentating on races such as the African Continental Championships, Tour de Feminin and multiple rounds of the British road and circuit series for Golazo and Monument Cycling.

Expertise:Racing