"Our aim was to make the race hard from the start, which we did," said Brennan. "After several attack attempts, Darren (van Bekkum) ended up with two fellow escapees in the front. In the peloton, we did everything we could to defend his attack. Darren rode a strong race."

"The escapees held on for a long time," the first-year U23 rider continued. "It looked like they would hold out until the end, even though it was going very fast behind them. Because of the chaos in the chasing group, I decided to make a move to the front alone in the finale. A few hundred metres from the finish line, Darren's group was eventually caught up, so I'm very happy that I was able to finish it off for the team."

Brennan was also the strongest in the Umag Trophy last Wednesday on his debut for the Dutch WorldTour formation's development team. Now he also managed to win his second race in the U23 category. With his victory in the Poreč and Umag Trophy, he follows in the footsteps of Olav Kooij again, who also won both Croatian races in his first season in the U23 category in 2020.

Photos: Mario Stiehl