Hofstetter lashes out at Brennan the day after Vuelta stage win: 'He rode straight into me'

Before the start of Stage 17 of the Vuelta a España, Hugo Hofstetter criticised Matthew Brennan’s sprinting style during Stage 16. The British rider from Visma | Lease a Bike won his fourth stage of this race, but according to Hofstetter, he didn’t do so in a fair manner.

Hofstetter finished seventh in the 16th stage of the Vuelta, and according to the 32-year-old Frenchman from NSN, he could have done much better. The sprinter had already finished fifth, eighth, and sixth in this race, but by his own account, he had more in him than a seventh-place finish on Day 16.

In an interview with Eurosport, Hofstetter spoke positively about Brennan, who is undoubtedly the sensation of this Tour of Spain. “I have a lot of respect for him. He’s a great rider—there’s no denying that.”

We could hear the “but” coming from a mile away, and sure enough, there it was. “Yesterday (Tuesday in Stage 16, ed.), his move cost me the sprint. It’s one thing to be very strong, but it’s quite another to make unpredictable moves.”

According to Hofstetter, the unpredictable move occurred in the final kilometer, during which, according to the Frenchman, Brennan veered off his line. “If you’d had a bird’s-eye view, we would have clearly seen that Brennan completely changed his line and was heading straight for me.”

It’s true that you can’t really see it from the front, though we do see Brennan move toward Wout van Aert’s wheel after the last turn, after which Hofstetter looks down. “His wheel destroyed my shoe,” he explained. “That caused me to unclip, out of fear of falling.”

Hofstetter still managed to finish in a remarkable seventh place after he was able to get back into the flow of the group. “I was really well positioned on Bryan Coquard’s wheel (who finished second, ed.), so I was disappointed to end up in the wind.”