American Brandon McNulty wins individual time trial in opening stage of the Spanish Vuelta

MADRID (AP) — American Brandon McNulty won the opening stage of the Spanish Vuelta in Portugal on Saturday.

The rider from UAE Team Emirates finished the individual time trial with a time of 12 minutes, 35 seconds, two seconds faster than Czech rider Mathias Vacek. Wout van Art finished third, three seconds off the winning time.

“I was hoping for something good today, but this is really hard to believe for me,” McNulty said. “I knew I could do something good, but I didn’t expect to win. I just felt good and went as hard as I could. I gave everything I had.”

McNulty finished fifth in the men’s individual time trial at the Paris Olympics.

The coastal wind played a pivotal role as riders went through a 12-kilometer (7.5-mile) speedy route near the mouth of the Tajo River, going from Lisbon to Oeiras.

“The wind was really strong but we knew that so I was counting with it,” Vacek said. “I think it was the same for everybody. It was about pure power and I gave it everything. The pacing plan was like one minute slower. We can be really, really satisfied.”

Defending Vuelta champion Sepp Kuss was 53 seconds slower than McNulty, which was good only for 62nd place.

Primoz Roglic, a three-time Vuelta winner who switched from Team Visma-Lease a Bike to Team Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe, was eighth fastest, 17 seconds behind McNulty.

The first three stages of this year’s Vuelta are taking place in Portugal. The three-week race includes eight mountain stages and two individual time-trial stages. Only one stage will be flat.

Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar is not participating in the Vuelta, the last Grand Tour race of the season. Also absent is Jonas Vingegaard, the second-place finisher at the Tour de France, as well as Remco Evenepoel, who completed the podium in France.

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