Visma | Lease a Bike saw Olav Kooij win the first stage in the Tour of Poland on Monday. Matthew Brennan, the Dutchman's designated lead-out man, was, however, relegated from 24th to 139th place. The Brit also received a yellow card. While doing his lead-out, Brennan was looking for his team leader, Kooij, but looked back and accidentally obstructed Fernando Gaviria. The Colombian rider from Movistar reacted quickly and prevented a crash.
The jury ruled that it was Brennan's fault, who received a relegation and a yellow card for it. This has no consequences for the British rider's classification for now, but another mistake will exclude him from the race.
It was Brennan's first time as a lead-out, which he had already talked about before the race. “As a lead-out, you see the sprint from a different perspective, and you see things you don't normally see. Those are very valuable lessons.”
“It's important for my development to see how a sprinter works and how he uses his skills to the best of his ability. Although it's a completely new experience for me, I think it will help me a lot in the future,” said the Brit, who wants to see how far he can get in the Tour of Poland classification in the coming days.
In addition to Brennan, Tim Torn Teutenberg (Lidl-Trek) also received a yellow card in the sprint.
Video: Matthew Brennan gets yellow card in Tour of Poland