There was a time when Britain’s young team pursuiters on the track mostly developed into climbers on the road: Peter Kennaugh, Geraint Thomas and Bradley Wiggins. The latter two grew into Tour de France winners. Today, however, with team pursuit times plummeting from around four minutes two decades ago to a quite staggering 3:40 nowadays, the make-up of a team pursuiter has altered significantly. They’re more power athletes, requiring mostly fast-twitch fibres, and as a result the trend has shifted. No longer are they climbers on the road, but sprinters – Ethan Vernon and Ethan Hayter in recent years, and now the latest to emerge: the season’s breakthrough star Matthew Brennan and soon-to-be EF Education EasyPost neo-pro Noah Hobbs.

“The discipline has changed: now the team pursuit is more of a sprint event – you need raw power for the whole duration of the race,” Hobbs says. “The track, providing you get the balance right and don’t skip too many road races, definitely helps your form on the road. They make each other better.”

While Visma-Lease a Bike’s Brennan was promoted to the WorldTour this year aged 19 and has adapted to the rigour and demands of it like one of his peers does to being in a nightclub at 5am, Hobbs decided to stay put one more year in the U23 ranks, to gain more experience winning and to finesse his skills before his own promotion. The approach has paid off: eight wins, including three at the Tour de Bretagne, and one at the Tour de l’Avenir. Everyone’s talking about Brennan, but the reality is Britain has two rip-roaring young sprinters with an education honed on the track coming through.

This article was published by Rouleur in September 2025. You can read it here.