<body><div>Vuelta a España Stage Report: Brandon McNulty claimed the first red jersey of the 2024 Vuelta a España. The UAE Team Emirates American clocked the fastest time in the 12 kilometre opening time trial from Lisboa to Oeiras. He narrowly beat Mathias Vacek and Wout van Aert.**** Full ‘PEZ Stage Report’ very soon. ****Stage 1 finaleVuelta race director, Fernando Escartín: “The inaugural stage of La Vuelta will, once again, be an individual time trial – this time consisting of a 12 km route near the mouth of the Tajo River. It will be a powerful, speedy time trial designed for true specialists. The coastal wind may play a pivotal role.”<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0dCb2v_0v1eoewI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0dCb2v_0v1eoewI00" width="1000" height="393" ></figure>Stage 1 profileStage 1: The first stage is a 12 kilometre time trial to Oeiras. The Vuelta doesn’t visit the historic centre of the capital, but the suburb of Restelo and then west along the coast to Oeiras. The start is from Lisbon’s historic Praça do Império. From there, the riders go straight to the coast. They will also pass the royal gardens. From then on, it is almost straight to the finish in Oeiras. The route is not technical, but considering recent Vuelta, this is probably a good idea.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1hQmfX_0v1eoewI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1hQmfX_0v1eoewI00" width="1000" height="1500" ></figure>The 2024 Vuelta a España gets ready to start in Lisboa<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2jDFIQ_0v1eoewI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2jDFIQ_0v1eoewI00" width="1000" height="667" ></figure>Enric Mas was an early starter and put up a top time, but it didn’t last longLuis Angel Maté (Euskaltel-Euskadi) was the first rider down the ramp. Enric Mas had the temporary fastest time for almost twenty minutes, but Victor Campenaerts, who managed to win a stage in the Tour de France and made an impression in the first time trial and Jay Vine were also setting good times. It was Edoardo Affini of Visma | Lease a Bike who took the hot seat for a long time with 12:43, an average of over 56kph.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0Ahpm3_0v1eoewI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0Ahpm3_0v1eoewI00" width="1000" height="667" ></figure>Victor Campenaerts also set a good time amongst the early starters<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2zgm3a_0v1eoewI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2zgm3a_0v1eoewI00" width="1000" height="667" ></figure>Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost) put in a surprisingly good rideThe teams decided the start order, so the GC men were mixed in with the others. Mattias Skjelmose who recorded a good final time with a time of 12:57, was too fast for competitors Antonio Tiberi, Daniel Felipe Martínez, Enric Mas and Richard Carapaz, but could not improve on the fastest time of Affini. Adam Yates also finished with a similar time as the others, Cian Uijtdebroeks also had to concede a little time.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3ctisn_0v1eoewI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3ctisn_0v1eoewI00" width="1000" height="667" ></figure>Visma | Lease a Bike’s Edoardo Affini was looking very fast through the time points<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=039DtL_0v1eoewI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=039DtL_0v1eoewI00" width="1000" height="667" ></figure>Ecuador TT champion – Richard CarapazThymen Arensman, the Dutch GC hope of INEOS-Grenadiers couldn’t match the time of Affini, but only conceded one second to Tiberi. After Arensman finished it wasn’t long before his teammate and the favourite for the stage victory, Joshua Tarling started his ride.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3LHkcs_0v1eoewI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3LHkcs_0v1eoewI00" width="1000" height="633" ></figure>Affini had a long rest in the ‘Hot Seat’<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0PZZoJ_0v1eoewI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0PZZoJ_0v1eoewI00" width="1000" height="586" ></figure>The French TT champion, Bruno Armirail, was the second best for a long timeThe European TT champion clocked the fastest time at the first intermediate point. The Briton was then 3 seconds faster than Affini, who was still in the hot seat, after 7 kilometres, but he finished just 0.28 seconds slower than the Italian’s time at the finish. It looked like only teammate Wout van Aert, as the last starter, would be able to spoil an Italian win, but it was Mathias Vacek who came in with the next fastest time.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0KDvZf_0v1eoewI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0KDvZf_0v1eoewI00" width="1000" height="667" ></figure>Primoz Roglič finished in 8th place, but he didn’t fall offThe 22-year-old Czech rider of Lidl-Trek recorded a time of 12:37. Stefan Küng couldn’t beat Vacek’s time. The Groupama-FDJ Swiss rider was 4 seconds slower than the man in the hot seat. I was now down to Van Aert, or so we thought.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3oNjKo_0v1eoewI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3oNjKo_0v1eoewI00" width="1000" height="667" ></figure>Brendon McNulty rode a faster second half for the winAmong the top favourites of the general classification, there was also João Almeida and Sepp Kuss. The home rider recorded the fastest time of the overall riders up to that point with a time of 12:54. Last year’s American winner lost more time, but finished within 35 seconds of Almeida. Primoz Roglič did dip under the time of Almeida, although it was only by 2 seconds.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=22aAU4_0v1eoewI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=22aAU4_0v1eoewI00" width="1000" height="667" ></figure>Wout van Aert looked good, but finished in third placeIn the battle for the stage victory, everyone was looking at Brandon McNulty and Van Aert. The Olympic bronze medalist was 1 second faster than Vacek at the intermediate time point, while the American champion undercut Vacek’s time by 2 seconds at the finish. Van Aert was unable to beat the time of the UAE Team Emirates rider to finish in third place.<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3BuR6A_0v1eoewI00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3BuR6A_0v1eoewI00" width="1000" height="667" ></figure>Stage win and all the jerseys for US TT champion McNultyStage winner and overall leader, Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates): “I knew if something crazy happened I could win… I guess something crazy happened! I was hoping for something but this is hard to believe. I just had super good legs. I’ve been feeling really good in training, especially since I went to the Olympics. With an effort of 12 minutes, there was no real pacing, I just went as hard as I could. I guess I proved I’m capable of delivering on a good day. It’s nice to be in the lead and I’ll enjoy it but there’s no secret that we have two super strong leaders in Joao [Almeida] and Adam [Yates] so I’ll do my best to help them.”# Stay PEZ for everything Vuelta a España – Stage reports and catch-up in EUROTRASH Monday and Thursday. #Vuelta a España Stage 1 Result:1. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates in 12:352. Mathias Vacek (CZ) Lidl-Trek at 0:023. Wout Van Aert (Bel) Visma | Lease a Bike at 0:034. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ at 0:065. Edoardo Affini (Ita) Visma | Lease a Bike at 0:086. Joshua Tarling (GB) INEOS Grenadiers7. Mauro Schmid (Sui) Jayco AlUla at 0:168. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 0:179. Bruno Armirail (Fra) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale at 0:1810. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates at 0:19.Vuelta a España Overall After Stage 1:1. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates in 12:352. Mathias Vacek (CZ) Lidl-Trek at 0:023. Wout Van Aert (Bel) Visma | Lease a Bike at 0:034. Stefan Küng (Sui) Groupama-FDJ at 0:065. Edoardo Affini (Ita) Visma | Lease a Bike at 0:086. Joshua Tarling (GB) INEOS Grenadiers7. Mauro Schmid (Sui) Jayco AlUla at 0:168. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe at 0:179. Bruno Armirail (Fra) Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale at 1810. João Almeida (Por) UAE Team Emirates at 0:19.</div></body>

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VUELTA’24 Stage 1: McNulty Takes First Vuelta Red!

Vuelta a España Stage Report: Brandon McNulty claimed the first red jersey of the 2024 Vuelta a España. The UAE Team Emirates American clocked the fastest time in the 12 kilometre opening time trial from Lisboa to Oeiras. He narrowly beat Mathias Vacek and Wout van Aert. ****...

VUELTA’24 Stage 1: McNulty Takes First Vuelta Red!

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