“Something crazy”: McNulty wins the first stage of the Vuelta

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Brandon McNulty secured victory in the first stage of the Vuelta a Espana on Saturday, narrowly beating Mathias Vacek in the individual time trial as the third grand tour of the year began in Lisbon.

American UAE Team Emirates rider McNulty was the penultimate rider to tackle the 12km route to Oeiras, beating Vacek by two seconds. The last rider, Wout van Aert, took third place in a thrilling finale.

Defending champion Sepp Kuss was over half a minute behind overall contender and three-time champion Primoz Roglic, who finished eighth, 17 seconds behind McNulty at 12 minutes and 35 seconds.

“I was hoping for something good today, but I can hardly believe this,” said 26-year-old McNulty.

“I knew if something crazy happened, I could do it. So I guess something crazy happened.”

Since the star trio Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel are not competing, the overall ranking is completely open this year.

Slovenian veteran Roglic, aiming for his fourth triumph and a joint record, made a strong start as the Vuelta began in Portugal for the first time since 1997.

Portuguese UAE rider Joao Almeida, who began the race with strong support on home soil, also impressed, finishing two seconds behind Roglic.

Italian Visma Lease-a-Bike rider Edoardo Affini set the pace early with a time of 12 minutes and 43 seconds, and it looked like victory was in the cards when European time trial champion and stage favourite Josh Tarling crossed the line 0.28 seconds behind him.

However, Czech Vacek overtook Afini by six seconds and held the lead until McNulty stormed in.

“I worked hard for this… I gave it my all and I couldn't have done much better. I'm really happy with it,” said Lidl Trek rider Vacek as he waited to see if he would make it through.

“The wind was really strong, but we knew that and I think everyone knew that, it was all about pure power.”

Last on the start ramp, Vismas Van Aert was in the lead at the intermediate checkpoint, but did not have enough power to overtake McNulty.

“I didn't feel good, it started to hurt way too quickly and it was a long way to the finish… the feeling was not what I had hoped for,” said the explosive Belgian.

The second stage on Sunday stays in Portugal and takes the riders 194 km from Cascais to Ourem.

The 79th edition of the race ends on September 8 in Madrid after 21 stages and 3,265 km of travel.