UAE Team Emirates (Spain, Portugal) - Press Release: McNulty smashes Vuelta time trial to take leaders jersey American takes huge result in Lisbon

American takes huge result in Lisbon.

Brandon McNulty put in the ride of his life to secure a narrow victory in the stage 1 time trial from Lisbon to Oeiras at the Vuelta España.

The American cyclist expertly navigated the parcours ahead of second place Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) by just two seconds. The podium was rounded out by Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) who went off last.

McNulty was the second-to-last rider to start which meant he had his teammates and also his rivals times for reference.

At the 7km mark, Van Aert was slightly ahead of Vacek, with McNulty trailing by two seconds. However, in the final stretch, McNulty displayed his strength, powering home with a blistering average speed of 57.197 kph to claim victory.

It will be the first time the American will don the leaders jersey of a Grand Tour.

McNulty: “I don’t know if I expected to win but I knew if something crazy happened, then I could win – so I guess something crazy happened, I was hoping for something good today but this is hard to believe for me.

I just had super good legs. I’ve been feeling really good in training. I really went for the Olympics, and I’ve had good legs since then. I knew I could do something good, but I didn’t expect to win.”