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Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) will wear the first red jersey of the 2024 Vuelta a España after taking a narrow victory in the time trial of stage one from Lisbon to Oeiras.
The American delivered a well-judged performance on the windswept coastal course, beating a surprise Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) by two seconds, while Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) had to settle for third place after leading at the intermediate time control.
McNulty came down the starting ramp second to last and Vacek was the man to beat from the start of his effort, although he knew that Van Aert, the last starter of the evening, would also be a firm competitor.
Van Aert was a fraction of a second faster than Vacek at kilometer 7, while McNulty was third, two seconds behind. However, over the final stretch, McNulty proved to be the strongest, racing to the finish at an average speed of 57.197 km/h to secure the win.
Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was the best-placed of the favorites in the overall ranking, 17 seconds behind in 8th place, while João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) finished 10th, a further two seconds behind. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) lost 34 seconds, while Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) lost 54 seconds.
More to follow …
Results
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