Visma | Lease a Bike have been forced into a late change for Milan-San Remo after Matthew Brennan withdrew from Saturday’s race through illness, removing one of the most intriguing fast finish options on the start list.
Brennan, 20, was set to make his debut in La Primavera after a breakout start to his senior career. He arrived in Italy with a growing reputation for handling hard one-day racing as well as he handles a sprint, a combination that made him an obvious name to circle for a race that can still, on the right day, reward speed at the end of six-plus hours.
Visma | Lease a Bike confirmed the change on Friday, with Victor Campenaerts drafted in as his replacement.
A late reshuffle, with Campenaerts drafted in
Campenaerts’ inclusion gives Visma | Lease a Bike a different profile rather than a like-for-like replacement. Brennan offered a finishing option if the race came back together, or if a reduced group slipped clear with enough riders unwilling to fully commit behind. Campenaerts, by contrast, brings engine-room value: the capacity to control, chase, and burn matches in the mid-race grind, plus the experience to read the chaos when Milan-San Remo starts to split.
He has ridden the race regularly in recent seasons, and he arrives as a ready-made piece for a team that already has multiple ways to animate the finale.
Photo Credit: GettyWhat it means for Visma | Lease a Bike’s plan
Without Brennan, the team’s most obvious sprint-leaning threat disappears. That places even more weight on Wout van Aert, the 2020 winner, as the central card. Around him, Matteo Jorgenson offers a durable, aggressive option for a hard Cipressa-Poggio sequence, while Christophe Laporte provides both depth and tactical flexibility, especially if the race becomes a battle of positioning and attrition before the Poggio.
In other words, Visma | Lease a Bike lose one potential outcome, but they do not lose their ability to shape the race.
Brennan’s missed opportunity in a race that suited his trajectory
The disappointment here is as much about timing as it is about the race itself. Milan-San Remo is often described as a sprinter’s Monument, but the modern version has become more nuanced: speed helps, but so does the ability to survive a brutally fast run-in, stay near the front on the Cipressa, and hold position onto the Poggio as the accelerations fly.
That is precisely why Brennan’s presence was so compelling. Even at 20, he has looked comfortable in messy, high-pressure Belgian racing, and his early results suggested a rider learning quickly how to win in more than one way.
Instead, his Monument debut will have to wait.
Full Visma | Lease a Bike line-up for Milan-San Remo
Visma | Lease a Bike will start with Wout van Aert, Christophe Laporte, Victor Campenaerts, Edoardo Affini, Owain Doull, Timo Kielich and Matteo Jorgenson.
Next targets on Brennan’s calendar
Visma | Lease a Bike have not yet indicated when Brennan will return to racing. He had been pencilled in for Gent-Wevelgem on March 29, followed by Dwars door Vlaanderen, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, but illness at this point of the season can disrupt more than one start line.
For now, the story is simple: one of the fastest-rising young riders in the peloton is missing the biggest one-day race of his spring, and Visma | Lease a Bike must approach San Remo with a sharper focus on the Cipressa and Poggio rather than the Via Roma sprint.
