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Matthew Brennan stormed to the win at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne yesterday, reinforcing his position as a classics favourite and staking his claim as one of the fastest finishers around.
Brennan raced on the aero Cervélo S5, like the rest of his teammates. Although one Visma development team rider who joined the team was riding a Cervelo Soloist, which you can see in our Opening Weekend tech gallery.
I managed to get near Brennan's bike at the Kuurne finish to take a look at the race-winning machine.
The standout for me was how low and aggressive the front end of the bike was in the flesh. Brennan isn't tall anyway, but his slammed front end is really low.
Brennan raced to the win on 165mm cranks, different front and rear wheel depths, size 41-54 tooth chainrings and 30mm tyres. He also had an interesting stem note on his handlebars, which I managed to get a shot of below.
Here's Brennan's bike racked in the winner's enclosure. I'm fairly sure the toy donkey he won wasn't his only prize. The racebook listed the winner's prize money at €7,515, which I assume he will split with his teammates. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowki)
It's a low, aggressive front end for Brennan; his SRAM shifters appear to be angled slightly in. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowki)
The handlebars appear to be set up as low as they can go, which means the rear of the stem is in line with the bikes top tube. I'm not sure whether the '187' is a length measurement, or an internal team number, which Visma use for their wheel hubs for instance. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowki)
Brennan's race number was 136. He'll be number 1 next year if he starts. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowki)
Brennan was using a Prologo Scratch M5 PAS saddle, with NACK (nano carbon fibre) rails. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowki)
Some simple stem notes here for Brennan written on some cloth tape. These could be related to fuelling, or certain points in the race. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowki)
30mm Vittoria Corsa Pro tyres for Brennan, setup tubeless with a Reserve 42mm deep front rim. You can also see what looks to be a kind of glue around the tyre bead at the valve, something Visma may have done before as a little extra insurance. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowki)
Paired with a 49mm deep Reserve rim at the year, an interesting combination that the team must have thought was fastest overall on the day. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowki)
That stem is slammed, meaning it really integrates well with the top tube. Something that's becoming less common on pro bikes, it seems. Brennan is flying the flag for the low front-end crowd. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowki)
Winners bikes are UCI tagged post race. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowki)
Slightly unusual 41-56 tooth pro only SRAM chainrings - this isn't a combination that you can just order from SRAM. Spot the waxed chain. (Image credit: Tom Wieckowki)
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Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
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