The Briton Matthew Brennan, almost untouchable during the massive sprints of the Tour of Spain, signed his fourth success since leaving Monaco on August 22 by winning the 16th stage on Tuesday in La Rabida, in Andalusia.
While the Spaniard Enric Mas took advantage of a quiet day to maintain the lead in the general classification, the 21-year-old rider won without trembling in front of the Frenchman Bryan Coquard and the Belgians Vito Braet and Jordi Meeus at the end of a race padlocked by his training, the Visma-Lease a bike.
Brennan only missed out once during a massive race, the one won by Bryan Coquard during the 8th stage in Xeraço. After losing the wheel of his teammates, he was unable to fight with the best (10th). For the rest, his copy is perfect.
“My initial goal was to win a stage. We must not forget that this Vuelta is my first big tour. So four victories, and six in total for the team, it’s totally crazy,” commented the winner at the organization’s microphone.
Certainly, the best sprinters on the planet (Merlier, Milan and Philipsen) are not present in Spain, “but you have to know how to push it to the bottom and Matthew copes well with the pressure despite his young age”, commented his leader Wout Van Aert, during the rest day on Monday.
Wout van Aert as a luxury teammate
The Belgian, victorious twice, has a lot to do with the success of his young teammate among the “hornets”. Again on Tuesday, he placed the Briton in a chair at the end of the final straight.
“Wout was perfect in this really chaotic sprint,” said Brennan. I just had to follow his wheel, it’s so easy with him. I can’t dream of a better pilot fish since the abandonment of Christophe (Laporte, Saturday during the 14th stage, editor’s note),” he continued.
On Wednesday, the winner of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne at the end of winter, can aim for a fifth success, and a 23rd career victory, on the completely flat course of the 17th stage between Dos Hermanas and Seville.
A stage which, like Monday, should completely disinterest the general leaders who are waiting for the weekend to decide.
Enric Mas, in red since the abandonment of Tadej Pogacar ten days ago, occupies the lead with 2 minutes 06 ahead of the Austrian Félix Gall and 2:10 over the Slovenian Primoz Roglic. The Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, 4th more than four minutes behind, is less threatening.
The Spaniard expects to be pushed around on Thursday during the 32-kilometer time trial in Jerez de la Frontera. On the temple of MotoGP speed, Mas, rarely at ease in individual exercise, will try to limit the gaps on Roglic who performs better on a time trial bike.
Then, Friday and Saturday, the 31-year-old Majorcan will find mountainous terrain more in line with his qualities. Enough to look forward to the last five days of racing “with confidence” according to Ivan Velsaco, his sporting director at Movistar.
“Enric is really in his best form. Above all, he is mature and calm. He is a father of two children, he manages to manage the pressure. And being so relaxed has an impact on performance,” the latter indicated on Eurosport.
