Visma | Lease a Bike's super talent Brennan claims first pro victory in GP Denain

Matthew Brennan won GP Denain. The 19-year-old Brit from Visma | Lease a Bike was the best in a small group sprint, having played the game perfectly. He neutralized the breakaways where necessary and then finished it off in the final sprint. Gianni Vermeersch finished second, ahead of Dries De Bondt.

The GP Denain is known as the mini-Paris-Roubaix. The French race covers 197 kilometers and has 13 cobblestone sections, all in the last 90 kilometers. After Juan Sébastian Molano's victory in 2024, the surprising German Jannik Steimle managed to stay ahead of the favorites and secure a wonderful victory. The course lends itself to being unpredictable, and the riders set off on their adventure under a lovely sun.

Four riders hoped to set the pace from the start, as sometimes happens in Paris-Roubaix. Rory Townsend (Q36.5 Pro Cycling), Kévin Avoine (Van Rysel Roubaix), Quentin Bezza (Wagner Bazin WB), and Aaron Gate (XDS Astana) formed a strong quartet. But the peloton gave them only a little leeway: the gap had closed again before reaching three minutes. After a quiet start, the race reached the first cobblestones halfway through the race, meaning the race had truly begun.

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Extremely difficult cobblestone sections split the race wide open

Townsend and Gate were the strongest leading group on the cobblestones, staying in front the longest. A flat tire for the Irishman spoiled the party, and so in the end, Gate was also caught by the fast-approaching pack, where the race was already in full swing. The five-star section of Quérenaing was where it exploded: men like Florian Vermeersch (UAE Team Emirates - XRG), Anthony Turgis (DirectEnergies), Gianni Vermeersch and Tibor del Grosso (Alpecin-Deceuninck) showed themselves to be extremely strong. Ten men rode away with about 40 kilometers to go.

They included the aforementioned names, but also Matthew Brennan (Visma | Lease a Bike), Brent Van Moer, Alec Segaert (Lotto), Dries De Bondt (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Dillon Corkery (Auber93), Tomas Kopecky and Axel Huens (Unibet Tietema Rockets). They managed to put a minute between themselves and the peloton, although there was still a group of strong riders in between. But the men at the front were the strongest in the race.

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Flat tire Del Grosso ruins party Alpecin 

Alpecin-Deceuninck seemed to be riding towards a fantastic finale, with two very strong riders at the front. But Del Grosso got a flat tire on the third cobblestone section of the finish line. Huens also had to let go of the lead. He also saw the pursuers pass him, but Del Grosso was able to catch up, and they were getting closer and closer. But the cooperation came to a halt, so the victory would most certainly go to someone from the leading group. It was a waiting game for the last difficult cobblestone section.

But even there, no one was strong enough to make a difference. It became an extremely nervous finale, and the cat-and-mouse game could begin. In the final kilometers, riders were constantly attacking, but miraculously, it still came down to a sprint. Brennan was clearly the strongest, ahead of Gianni Vermeersch and Dries De Bondt. With this win, the very young British rider claimed his very first victory at the professional level.

Results GP Denain 2025

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