[Matthew Brennan. the 18-year-old British rider is touted as one of the best sprinters of the next generation and has quickly proven his talent and speed among the pros.

Brennan, a member of the Visma-Lease A Bike development team, held off other world tour riders including Jake Stewart and Luca Mozzato in a group finish at the Circuit de Wallonie in Charleroi on Thursday, with Arnaud de Lee finished in third place behind Axel Zingle.

"I feel really good," said Gilles. The race was perfect. The race was perfect for us. We were always in the lead and Lo Van Belle made sure we didn't waste any energy in the peloton." [The last few kilometers were pretty hectic. I managed to follow Tosh Van Der Sande and after Père turned in well at the front, I was ready for the sprint."

The 24-year-old Stewart sprinted on the final straight of the 184-km hilly race.

The two were caught by the wind with 100 meters to go, with Stewart falling behind and de Lee overtaking him for the win.

"I felt pretty confident going into the race because I felt I had good legs mid-race," Brennan said. I honestly didn't expect to be on the podium, so I'm very happy. So I'm very happy." [I honestly didn't expect to be on the podium. It makes the next race a lot easier."

The Wisma racer joined the Dutch team after a winter transfer from the British junior team Fensham Howes.

He has competed on both road and track in his career and last year was the junior world champion in individual pursuit and Madison (with Bradley Wiggins' son Ben) in the latter event.

"The athletes controlled the race and showed great courage," said Artur van Dongen, coach of the Wisma Ries A bike. 'Low was probably the strongest man today, and Matthew was one step away from victory.'

"Finishing third behind De Lier was nothing to be ashamed of. Overall it was a very good day and gives me a lot of confidence for the future."

"I'm very happy with my performance.

Brennan, who won the Guido Laybrook Classic and the Kaiser de Juniors in 2023, has already won the Croatian 1.2 one-day races, Trofeo Umag and Trofeo Poreč, this season.

In Wallonie, he defeated Paul Penhoe, Luca Mozzato, and Jake Stewart, and continues to grow as he weaves between U23 and professional races.

Brennan has signed a contract with a development team until 2025, with Finn Fischer-Black (UAE Team Emirates), Johannes Staune-Mitte, Olaf Kooij (Visma-Ries A Bike), Archie Ryan (EF Education-Easy Post ), Lars Boven (Alpecin-Desseuninck), and other former Visma-trained riders, all aiming to make the jump to the World Tour in the future.