Spring Classic: Is Matthew Brennan the upcoming star and challenger to Mathieu van der Poel?

It looked almost playfully easy as the man drove away from the front. In fact, Matthew Brennan said at the finish line: "I had the easy part of the job." He had just celebrated the biggest victory of his career - in the 195-kilometre Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne cycling race in Belgium, as the youngest racer in the history of the competition, which dates back to 1946. Of course, the 20-year-old Briton had been perfectly launched into the final sprint of a leading group of around 40 riders by his French team-mate at Visma-Lease a bike, Christophe Laporte. Brennan only had to complete the groundwork by sprinting hard. But the race is regarded as one of the toughest tests of the so-called Opening Weekend, which heralds the start of the cycling season in Belgium every spring at the turn of the month from February to March. It is a race that can be a signpost for professional careers. The names of Tom Boonen, Peter Sagan, Mark Cavendish, Wout van Aert and Jasper Philipsen are on the list of winners.

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Better than Mark Cavendish?

No wonder that big comparisons were drawn immediately after the finish. After all, it was a famous compatriot, Mark Cavendish, who was the last Briton to win the race before him - in 2012 and 2015. Cavendish is regarded as the most successful sprinter in history, beating Eddy Merckx's age-old record for stage wins at the Tour de France. Brennan has been talked up in the scene for several years - his physiological values showed his potential early on. But the Briton has now become a winner at a very early stage - one who can do more than just sprint. At Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne over steep stretches and cobblestones, you first have to reach the final. Others did not succeed. Tour stage winner Jasper Philipsen and the highly-rated Frenchman Paul Magnier lost their chances due to defects, while others such as top sprinter Jonathan Milan or the former winner of the green jersey at the Tour de France, Biniam Girmay, fell back early on. The youngster fought back and triumphed - it was the 14th time in his second year as a professional that he crossed the finish line first. Even though he has already won stages at World Tour level, such as the Tour of Catalunya or the Tour Down Under, his current victory in Belgium says the most about his qualities and potential. Especially as he also saved the spring balance sheet for his highly remunerated team, which had to do without team captain Wout van Aert due to injury and illness. The newcomer has contributed two of the three victories so far this season.

A successful tense with Wout van Aert?

Together with his Belgian team-mate van Aert, Brennan should form a dangerous duo for the competition in the future. "Ideally, they make a perfect team," emphasised Visma Sport Director Grischa Niermann before the season, adding: "That's why we've signed a long-term contract with Matthew. We have big goals for the future with him. We definitely believe that he can become a world-class racing driver." The contract is set to run up to and including 2029. Brennan can do more than just sprint. In the middle section last Sunday, when there were many steep stretches and the peloton was torn apart, Brennan fought his way back - also with the help of his young Italian team-mate Pietro Mattio, who dragged him back into the race. The man from the northern English town of Darlington gets over the hills well. He is tough and can withstand pain. The day before his victory, the youngster had hit the road hard in a crash at the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and abandoned 19 kilometres before the finish.

Fall down, get up, win

At the winner's press conference, Brennen said about the painful experience of the previous day: "I was really lucky how it turned out. I only had a few cuts and bruises. But when you crash at 60 km/h, you don't want to have that on a permanent loop in your head. And then you hear: Okay, tomorrow we have to do exactly the same thing, there will be the same chaos, the same nervousness. The question is how you deal with it mentally." He was nervous and the race the day after was particularly painful - but the newcomer fought his way through and ultimately celebrated a success that could be groundbreaking. In cycling, you have to be able to get over painful low blows quickly. Only the toughest riders make it in the long term - especially in a star-studded top team like Visma-Lease a bike. Nobody yet knows exactly where the young Briton's path will take him. Robbert de Groot, Head of Development at Visma, rejects comparisons with Brennan's famous compatriot Cavendish - he is simply a different type of racer: "Cav has never won an uphill sprint after 3,000 metres of climbing, but Matthew did at the Tour of Catalonia. I doubt whether he will be a pure sprinter - not because of his personality or his qualities. He weighs 67.5 kilograms - he would fit in Jonathan Milan's jersey pocket." The Italian Milan (Team Lidl-Trek) is currently regarded as the great reference in terms of bunch sprints.

A favourite for Milan-San Remo?

Nevertheless, the employer has high hopes for the up-and-coming talent. "I think he will definitely win a monument in the future," assures Niermann. The monuments are the five most prestigious one-day races on the cycling calendar: Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour of Lombardy. In the latter two races, the terrain could be too mountainous for Brennan. He has already set his sights on the remaining three competitions. "I would like to ride Milan-San Remo. And I'd also like to be in good form for Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders." The young man is still allowed to test his potential - his mentor Wout van Aert is due to start racing soon and support the newcomer with advice and assistance in the really tough races. Brennan must now learn to deal with the rapidly rising expectations. Even before the season opened, German sports director Niermann had already placed a burden on the shoulders of the budding star, saying of Brennan's potential: "I'm not saying that he can stay on Mathieu's wheel one hundred per cent if he attacks. But I'm not ruling it out either." The aforementioned Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel is the outstanding classics specialist of the moment, winning the Omloop Het Nieuwsblad as a soloist on Saturday, while the former world champion did not start on Sunday - there was no comparison of strengths. But at Team Visma-Lease a bike they hope that there will be big duels between the two in the future. Perhaps as early as 21 March at Milan-San Remo.