Brandon McNulty Wins Thrilling Vuelta a Espana Opener

American cyclist Brandon McNulty triumphed in the opening stage of the Vuelta a Espana with a time of 12 minutes and 35 seconds, narrowly beating Czech Mathias Vacek. Defending champion Sepp Kuss finished 53 seconds behind, while McNulty dons the red jersey for the next stage.

A moment of triumph for American cyclist Brandon McNulty as he clinched the opening stage time trial at the Vuelta a Espana by a margin of two seconds on Saturday. The UAE Team Emirates rider completed the flat 12km route around Lisbon in 12 minutes and 35 seconds, narrowly edging out Czech competitor Mathias Vacek.

Italian early starter Edoardo Affini led for a significant duration but eventually placed fifth, finishing eight seconds behind McNulty. Belgium's Wout van Aert, riding for Team Visma-Lease A Bike, seemed poised to dominate but settled for third, three seconds adrift of the leader.

Remarkably, defending champion Sepp Kuss clocked in 53 seconds behind McNulty, thereby losing valuable time to other general classification contenders, including three-time winner Primoz Roglic, who ranked eighth, trailing 17 seconds. McNulty will sport the red jersey in the ensuing hilly 194km second stage from Cascais to Ourem.

Reflecting on his win, McNulty said, "I don't know if I expected to win. I knew if something crazy happened I could, so I guess something crazy happened. I was hoping for it, but this is hard to believe for me. I had super good legs, and I've been feeling really good in training."

(With inputs from agencies.)