Teenager Matthew Brennan clinches dramatic first World Tour win in 'tricky' Volta Ciclista a Catalunya Stage 1

On a wet Stage 1 of Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, there was a dramatic finish and British youngster Matthew Brennan was first over the line to claim a thrilling victory. Brennan held off the challenge of Australia's Kaden Groves and Dutchman Tibor del Grosso for a notable success. Brennan afterwards said weather conditions had made the stage "tricky".

‘Genius at work’ – Brennan pulls off ‘mind-blowing’ comeback to take Stage 1 on the line

Video credit: TNT Sports

British teenager Matthew Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) stormed to a stunning victory on Stage 1 of Volta Ciclista a Catalunya on Monday.

It was a first World Tour race win for the 19-year-old rider.

Brennan hit the front just before the line following a punishing uphill sprint in the rain in Sant Feliu de Guixols.

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Dutchman Tibor del Grosso (Alpecin-Deceuninck) looked set for victory after breaking clear from the pack, but Brennan had other ideas with his superb finish.

Brennan also held off Australia's Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who finished second.

It was a fourth race win in succession for Brennan, with two coming for Visma's development squad before he secured his first professional victory at GP de Denain.

"The weather made it quite tricky today," Brennan said. "We did everything we could to try and keep the position towards the front and minimise any losses.

"So we came into the finish, we knew the coast road would be a critical point in the bike race, and I managed to get in position with a few guys around me, they supported me into there and from there we managed to sprint.

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Video credit: TNT Sports

"At the end, it was such a tricky situation to manage, you just had to go full gas really and I’m so happy it ended up like this, so big thanks to everyone involved."

In what had the makings of a mirror image of the first stage from 12 months ago, when Nick Schultz (Israel-Premier Tech) dashed clear on the final descent for a solo success, Del Grosso used his descending skills to break clear of the peloton.

Brennan was aware of Schultz’s move 12 months ago, as he said: "I was sat watching [last year’s stage] last night, and as soon as Alpecin went off the front I knew this was a replay from last year.

"You’ve just got to really manage it and take responsibility and it ended up the best we probably could have done, in that scenario."