Visma's Marc Reef vague about Brennan's 2027 Tour de France hopes: 'See which riders are a good fit'

Brennan won stages two, five, eleven, sixteen, and seventeen in the Vuelta. With a little more luck, he might even have had seven stage wins after his incredible debut in a Grand Tour. After just two seasons, the 21-year-old sprinter has already racked up 24 professional wins. Van Aert won his fourth and fifth stages in the Vuelta and also took home the green jersey. And on top of that, Sepp Kuss finished fifth in the general classification.

"The general classification wasn't our focus this time, so we're perfectly fine with how this stage turned out," team director Marc Reef told De Telegraaf after the race. “The fact that the race went so well for our team has a lot to do with the qualities of Matthew and Wout van Aert. We already knew what Wout was capable of, though you always have to prove it time and again.”

With Brennan, of course, it was different, because it was his first Grand Tour. “We had a lot of confidence in Matthew, despite his age of 21. He had already shown what he was capable of in sprints following a tough stage; he’d already demonstrated that in stage races like the Volta a Catalunya and the Tour of Burgos.”

But even for Visma | Lease a Bike, the results in the Vuelta were unpredictable. “The fact that he managed to win five times is truly sensational. On the one hand, it doesn’t surprise us, because we knew what he was capable of, but he certainly took a huge step forward in his development here. It’s a shame that Christophe Laporte had to drop out, but the team was able to handle it well.”

After his fourth stage victory, Brennan spoke openly of even bigger goals. Next year, the Tour de France will start in Edinburgh, Scotland. In the United Kingdom, the British rider would love nothing more than to don the yellow jersey after the first stage. “I told the team two years ago, when it was announced: I’d love to be at the start,” he said at the time.

Of course, something like that is easier said than done, especially in a team where the goal is still to win the overall title with Jonas Vingegaard. “First of all, I think it’s great to hear how ambitious he is,” Reef responds. “But we won’t look at the scenarios for next year until after this season ends. Then we’ll set our goals for each of the major tours and see which riders are a good fit. We’ll definitely have Matthew in mind as well.”