'A privilege to be racing on Jonas' behalf' - Matthew Brennan's late substitution for Vingegaard at Volta a Catalunya gets off to perfect start

At the Volta a Catalunya, Visma-Lease a Bike faced a challenge with Jonas Vingegaard injured and absent. Young cyclist Matthew Brennan, at just 19 years old, seized the opportunity to compete and unexpectedly won his first WorldTour stage. Despite having been known primarily as a one-day race specialist, Brennan's quick adaptation and strategy on a challenging descent led to his dramatic victory. He reflected on the support of his team and the bittersweet nature of stepping in for a champion like Vingegaard, seeing it as a privilege to race on his behalf.

"It's a shame Jonas is not here and that he crashed and that he's out of the race but he needs to recover and it's a good step for him to do that towards his next goals," Brennan said.

"It was a really tricky situation. We'd managed as a team to get into the right position coming into the final and then on the descent an Alpecin rider was out there on their own and I had an Alpecin rider on my wheel, what can you do in that sort of situation?" Brennan asked rhetorically.

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