For Brandon McNulty, winner of the first stage of the 2024 Vuelta a España, there is only one thing that is always important in bicycle racing, no matter what it is - time trials.

Although only two seconds behind on the results sheet, the UAE Team Emirates racer still managed to hold off interim leader Matthias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) on the 12km opening TT course, and pre-stage favorite Wout Van Art ( Vimalies a Bike) by a narrow margin.

McNulty, who finished fifth in the Olympic time trial, was clearly in good shape for the first Grand Tour of 2024. After narrowly catching Van Aert and Vacek at the mid-race time check on Saturday, McNulty opened his throttle on the long, straight, two-lane road leading to the finish in Oeiras and made a late push.

As a result, the Arizona native was now the leader of the Vuelta a España and the leader of the Grand Tour, chasing the wheel tracks of teammate Taddei Pogachar, winner of the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France. He has already won a variety of victories over the past year, including stage and overall victories at the Miguel Indurain GP, Tour de Romandie, the UAE Tour time trial, and the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana. [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...]

But for now, anyway, the Grand Tour leader's jersey is up for grabs, as well as a second Grand Tour stage win after the Giro d'Italia in 2023. Whatever McNulty's future holds, this is a landmark accomplishment for everyone.

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