Every cloud has a silver lining and even a rare misjudgement by sprinter Matthew Brennan (Team Visma–Lease a Bike) about when to launch his final acceleration at the Tour de Pologne could not stop the 20-year-old Briton from striking gold yet again.
This may be Brennan's rookie pro season, but the Visma–Lease a Bike fastman has punched through one glass ceiling after another nonetheless, clinching nine wins this season, four of them at WorldTour level.
His latest victory came despite Brennan misjudging the right distance to unleash his drive for the line, going from more than 300 metres out on the long, grinding uphill that concluded the tough stage to Zakopane. Yet even with his error - which meant, as Brennan said later, he ended up doing the longest sprint of his career to date - the Visma racer's acceleration still rapidly pulled him clear of the mini 40-strong bunch.
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Then rather than starting to flag despite the distance, when he raised his arms in triumph, the Briton was still several bike lengths clear of his compatriot and stage 3 winner Ben Turner (Team Ineos Grenadiers).
Brennan's effort was all the more notable, too, given the stage had nearly 3,000 metres of climbing and at 206 kilometres was the longest of the entire race, but neither proved an obstacle to the stage being stopped run off at a daunting average speed of over 42kmh.
"I was surprised at the finish, there were still quite a lot of guys left," Brennan told reporters afterwards.
"It was quite a tough day in my opinion, I could just be feeling rubbish but I remember looking back and thinking there were a lot more guys than I expected.
"Then I see a few sprinters popping up and I thought - ok this is interesting. So I kind of knew it'd be a more hectic final and I just surfed the wheels, and went a little too early for my liking.
"But once you commit, you've just got to go all the way to the line. So there was no point in stopping or hesitating, you've just got to go with it. So I'm really happy I could get to the finish line first and finish it off."
Going over the long unclassified climb through the Carpathian foothills that preceded the fast drop to Zakopane and a sometimes very technical run-in through the city itself, Brennan said he had not been able to participate in the late attacks, but he knew he'd be able to stick with the main group. And once Alberto Bettiol (XDS Astana Team) and Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates XRG) had been caught after their bid for freedom in the closing kilometres, it was game on for whichever sprinters had made it through the hills in the front group.
Brennan had no problem admitting that while the result was definitely the one he was looking for, he had made a major mistake jumping away from so far out.
"To be honest it was a bit of a stupid move, I think, but once you commit to something like that, you've got to go. I remember I kicked and then I saw the 300 metres sign and I thought - ah, this is a long way. So yeah, an uphill finish, but I've working on some 20 second stuff [efforts] and I knew I could keep going all the way to the line."
"When you're quite frustrated from a few things in the build-up in the last few days, that helps you push on a little bit, too, and I'm really happy to get this win today."
Brennan said he thought that the sprint from such a long distance was the first one he's ever done in a race, although in training, he said, the team were keen on them making such lengthy drives. And as he concluded, "Finally, I could put that pain from training into something useful today."
The Tom Pidcock Connection
It's been just a few years since Brennan has been heading across the English Channel to Belgium for racing with Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), as he recounted to journalists in Zakopane, with Pidcock's parents taking several young UK amateurs across the English Channel in their car so they could compete abroad. But the Team Visma–Lease a Bike pro has proved more than capable of handling the steep learning curve, and he's now having a breakthrough year with a capital B.
"We've worked on quite a few things with the trainers, the staff and nutritionists and each year we're always holding back something so we can always develop everything from the ground up properly," Brennan explained.
"There's no point in going to altitude looking for those one percents [for improvement] when you're missing a five per cent.
"The team are really good at looking for those five percents right now and then hopefully on down the line we can find those one percents, which will be crucial for further on."
As a teenager and part of a junior team racing abroad, he also got the hard yards in as well, though, as he recollected, saying "Every weekend, my weekend would literally be drive to Belgium, race, drive home - school in the [Monday] morning. That was my thing."
"It was really good, Giles and Sonya - Tom Pidcock's Mum and Dad - they drove six of seven of us all around Europe, we had a great time and I think moments like that have really pushed me into a team where I've been able to prosper in the way I have."
Still racing with the Visma's devopment team in some events, such as when he won the Rund um Koln this May, Brennan's non-stop series of victories has clearly established him in the senior squad as well. And as he savoured a hard-fought win in Zakopane where he managed to turn around a rare error that ended in his ninth pro triumph, Brennan paid tribute to how Visma have helped him across the board.
"It's all part of a development curve, and it's going really well at the moment, but that's with the support of the team being so focused on making me the best rider I can be," Brennan said, "as well as the best person off the bike."
"I think they're doing really well in combining those things in making me happy to race and also be able to switch off from racing so I can go again. And I think that's been a big part of the success this season."
