'It's the first Flemish Classic I've won, and hopefully not the last' – Matthew Brennan wins Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne
Briton bounces back from crash at Omloop Nieuwsblad to take milestone victory
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It took just 24 hours for Matthew Brennan to bounce back from his crash at Omloop Nieuwsblad and return to winning ways, claiming a first Flemish Classics victory at Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday.
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider sprinted to a convincing win in the Belgian one-day race. He launched his dash with 150m to go, following a lead-out from team-mate Christophe Laporte, and won by a bike length ahead of Luca Mozzato (Tudor Pro Cycling).
The victory marked Brennan's second of the season – his first came on the final day of the Tour Down Under – and made him the first British winner of the race since Mark Cavendish in 2015.
“It’s special to be able to say that I’ve won Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne,” Brennan said afterwards in quotes shared by his team. “As a junior, I often stood here watching the pros race, so it still needs to sink in. Everyone went above and beyond today. We took the initiative as a team, so I’m incredibly happy that it paid off.”
The 20-year-old explained he arrived at the start line in Kuurne “nervous”, after crashing hard on the approach to the Muur van Geraardsergen at Omloop Nieuwsblad on Saturday, and abandoning the race.
Speaking to Cycling Pro Net after his win, he said: “It was chaotic, it was busy, there was so much going on, so many close moments, and that wasn’t very helpful for bringing the confidence back,but I knew the legs were feeling pretty good, and [I] kind of leaned more on them.”
After the midway point, Brennan was gapped from the front slightly, but was brought back into contention by his team-mate Pietro Mattio. Visma-Lease a Bike then took control for the bunch sprint, shepherding the Briton down the finishing straight, and setting him up to kick ahead to the team's third victory of the year.
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“The guys guided me to the front flawlessly,” he said in Kuurne. “Christophe dropped me off at exactly the right moment and made sure the hardest part was done. I still had to finish it off. It’s the first Flemish classic I’ve won, and hopefully not the last.”
Brennan is next scheduled to compete at Milan-San Remo on 21st March, before returning to Belgium for a Classics block including: In Flanders Fields - From Middelkerke to Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen and the Tour of Flanders. He will also ride Paris-Roubaix, the race in which he made his Monument debut last year.
The 20-year-old won Cycling Weekly's Rider of the Year award for 2025 after winning 14 times in his breakthrough first season as a pro.
Tom joined Cycling Weekly as a news and features writer in the summer of 2022, having previously contributed as a freelancer and been host of the TT Podcast. He is fluent in French and Spanish, and holds a master's degree in International Journalism.
An enthusiastic cyclist himself, Tom likes it most when the road goes uphill, and actively seeks out double-figure gradients on his rides. His best result is 28th in a hill-climb competition, albeit out of 40 entrants.
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