Vuelta a España Stage 11: Matthew Brennan Is Making Bunch Sprints Look Easy

Matthew Brennan didn’t miss Wednesday on stage 11 at the Vuelta a España.

The 21-year-old super-sprinter blasted to the third win of his debut grand tour after his teammate Wout van Aert executed a perfect leadout.

The victory is a rapid turnaround for Visma-Lease a Bike, which was left empty-handed on Tuesday’s sprint stage after it worked all day for Van Aert.

Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) finished second in Wednesday’s sprint, a length behind Brennan. Jordi Meeus (Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe) was third in the mass kick.

Race-leader Enric Mas (Movistar) and his GC rivals all finished safely in the peloton.

There were no time gaps or moves on the classification, leaving Mas 1:18 over next-best Primož Roglič (Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe).

Brennan justifies Visma’s faith

Brennan’s victory Wednesday was the 22nd of his young career, and the third of his very first grand tour.

Speaking at the finish, Brennan thanked his teammates on Visma-Lease a Bike for trusting him to deliver.

“To win a third stage, it’s massive,” Brennan said. “I’m with a team full of massive champions – you’ve got guys who’ve been on podiums in grand tours [i.e., Kuss] and won big classics [i.e. Van Aert, Laporte].

“The fact they go for me each time is a massive opportunity,” Brennan said. “I’m really thankful.”

Visma-Lease a Bike showed all day it was putting its faith in Brennan.

In a reverse of stage 10 on Tuesday, Van Aert played superdomestique by shutting down attacks over the final climb and towing the young Brit out of a dog-leg bend 400 meters from the finish.

There are plenty more hilly sprint stages lined up through the back-half of the Vuelta.

Don’t be surprised if some combination of the Brennan-Van Aert double punch is victorious again before the race is done – much to the frustration of their rivals.

“My form and my legs are very good, but it is difficult to compete against a team like that,” said Red Bull sprinter Meeus, who finished third.

“It’s difficult to beat this lead-out. I can’t do more than pedal at my peak power,” Meeus said. “Those guys are also five or 10kg lighter, which makes it easier for them to get up to speed after that corner. It was a tough final.”

Mads Pedersen calls it quits

The Vuelta lost a big name – and Visma lost a key rival – at the start of the stage.

Mads Pedersen quit the Vuelta before Wednesday’s stage having looked far from his best since day 1.

Lidl-Trek wrote on social media Pedersen cut his losses before it’s too late.

The Danish star is one of the outside favorites for the Montréal road worlds in less than four weeks’ time.

“After battling illness over the past few days, Mads will now focus on making a full recovery before turning his attention to his remaining targets this season,” Lidl-Trek wrote.

Late attacks can’t stop the sprint

Wednesday’s sweltering hot stage into Lorca was the “easiest” of the race since the stage 1 team time trial.

Just one climb interrupted an otherwise pan-flat stage across Murcia.

Topping out around 33km from the line before a fast-rolling downhill, the 8km ascent of Alto de Aledo was the obvious launchpad for teams wanting to disrupt the anticipated bunch sprint.

The stage saw a number of splits and a 2-up attack by U.S. veteran Larry Warbasse (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step) before the bunch came together ahead of the climb.

The anticipated aggression was duly delivered by Pinarello Q36.5 on the Cat. 3 ascent.

Eddie Dunbar piled on at the head of the peloton with Van Aert in his wheel, but the Irishman didn’t cause much damage ahead of the summit.

Visma-Lease a Bike put the collective hammer down on the following descent to ensure a sprint for Van Aert or Brennan.

Uno-X Mobility also chipped in for Magnus Cort, who’s been beefing at national selectors for leaving him out of Denmark’s team for road worlds.

Pinarello-Q36.5 — a team without a noted sprinter — also kept pulling to prevent attacks off the front.

Visma-Lease a Bike and then Uno-X Mobility took control through the technical city center final marked by sweeping roundabouts and athe tight dog-leg turn inside the final 500m.

Vuelta a España stage 11 results