The French one-day race remained tightly contested for a long time. Eventually, three riders broke away, but due to the controlling work by Team Visma | Lease a Bike Development in the peloton, the breakaway never posed a significant threat. In the final phase, the yellow-black squad did excellent work for Brennan, allowing him to sprint convincingly to his first win of the season.

“We rode really well as a team today", says the young Brit proudly. “We raced aggressively and stuck to the plan. I’m really proud of the guys who played a big role in the victory. I’m going to enjoy this win first, but our focus will quickly shift to tomorrow. Hopefully, we can ride just as well as a team again and fight for the win in the GP Lillers.”

Sports director Robert Wagner is also proud of his team. “We did an excellent job as a team today. Matthew quickly indicated that he was feeling good, so we adjusted our strategy accordingly. The guys controlled the race well, which gave Matthew the chance to sprint. Tomorrow we’ll face a slightly less challenging course, but we expect to be in the mix for the win with Matthew.”

Brennan, who was recently at the start of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, made the decision himself to race today. “Matthew has already proven himself at the highest level, but he also indicated that he wants to race in some of the Development Team races. He feels there’s still a lot he can learn at this level. That shows his ambition to keep improving", says Wagner.