There can be little doubt who the breakthrough rider of the 2025 season was: Matthew Brennan. Just one year ago, the Briton was a 19-year-old sprinter who had demonstrated potential riding for Visma-Lease a Bike’s development team in 2024, but beyond that he hadn’t attracted the interest of too many people.
But almost as soon as the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve and 2024 became 2025, Brennan announced himself to the cycling world. Second on stage one of the Santos Tour Down Under, when Brennan returned to Europe he won four races in a row – the last one doubling up as his first WorldTour win, taking an impressive victory at the Volta a Catalunya. He won another stage in the same race, and would finish the year with a further 10 victories, taking his tally to 14. He was even off the front at Paris-Roubaix, mixing it with Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar. It’s been a long time since cycling witnessed a pro debut season like Brennan’s.
“If we’re really honest, it was outside all of our expectations,” says Robbert de Groot, Visma’s head of development who personally identified Brennan’s talent two years ago and pushed for him to join the Dutch team. “He’s just turned 20 years of age [in August] and he’s shown extremely high potential. The truth is, Matthew is still in the development process and he will remain part of the ‘white jersey group’ [the name Visma give to their group of developing riders] to work on leadership and the other points he needs to develop. But at the moment, the outcome has been crazy good.”
To understand why Brennan has had so much success in his first year, De Groot believes many factors have to be highlighted, beyond his ability to ride a bike very fast. What De Groot immediately points to is Brennan’s personality. “His mental approach, and his decision-making, is super interesting,” De Groot says. “I was with him in a couple of races, and how he managed sharing leadership with Olav Kooij [at the Tour of Britain] and cooperating with Wout van Aert at the Tour of Germany was really impressive. You create momentum with tactical decisions, and also mental qualities. Matthew has a calmness about him, and that comes from a very calm, self-reflective confident base.”
Brennan took a stage victory at his home race, the Tour of Britain, in September.
The way Brennan rides, anticipating key moves or starting a sprint earlier than others, suggests he’s…