Talented Brennan ends ‘educational week, in which not everything went well’ on a positive note

The new lead-out — with additions such as Filippo Fiorelli and Owain Doull — hadn’t fully clicked until now. Brennan did finish second on day two in Tanunda, but in Nairne (twelfth) and Willunga (sixteenth) he didn’t get into sprint contention. Despite this, sports director Jesper Morkov kept belief in a good outcome.

That belief was justified, as the Dane’s view was echoed by the team leader. “We’ve been disappointed with our results all week, but we’ve given 100% every day,” Brennan said in Stirling. “The fact that we can finish like this now makes us very happy. Everything we did wrong earlier this week has been picked up now.”

After 3,000 metres of climbing, it wasn’t a typical lead-out anymore. Anton Schiffer kept the tempo high in the final kilometres, after which returning-to-competition Per Strand Hagenes brought the kick. “We timed it well for what we wanted to do, and it’s great to open the season like this. Chapeau to the guys,” Brennan said, giving credit to his teammates.

“Today the team rewarded itself for the hard work of the whole week,” said DS Morkov. “Things didn’t always go the way we wanted this week, but as a team we always kept working hard. Today the team did really fantastic work and Matthew once again showed how good he is on difficult finishes. It’s a great way to end the week.”

“This victory gives a lot of confidence for the races that follow in the spring. It was an educational week, where not everything always went well,” Brennan concluded, ending the week — like everyone else in the team — on a positive note. “But today we did everything we had to do, and that gives a lot of confidence.”