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Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) wants to focus on one-week stage races in 2023.
The 24-year-old from Phoenix, Arizona tried to step up to the grand tours last year but suffered a disappointing performance at the Vuelta a España, where he was due to get a shot at the GC.
This season, he is still interested in nailing his grand tour chances, but he would prefer to go for a stage win and take his efforts going into week-long competition like the UAE Tour and Itzulia Basque Country.
“I think I’ll focus on the GC in a week or so and then I’d like to get some chances for a podium in a grand tour, I think that’s realistic,” explained McNulty. velo news, “I prefer to go for some results in at least one week of stage races, and then we’ll see which grand tour I do but I’m still up in the air.
“I would love to go to Basque again. I had a really good performance there a few years ago, so it would be nice to see if I can repeat something like that and at least go for a podium or something. I think it would be a good target for me.
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McNulty comes into this season after the ups and downs of the 2022 season. He scored his first win for the UAE Team Emirates at the Trofeo Calvia and took two more victories at the Faun–Ardèche Classic and a stage of Paris–Nice before March, as well as finishing runner-up at the Volta AO. Algarve.
A few disappointing days in Paris-Nice prevented McNulty from finishing above 12th in the GC, while illness complicated the rest of his spring.
He went on to a star turn at the Tour de France in support of Tadej Pogacar, but the season ended on a sour note at the Vuelta.
“I think it was mixed with the positive, leaning more toward the positive,” McNulty said of his 2022 campaign. “I had a really bad Vuelta, so it left a bad taste in my mouth. It’s easy to forget when you have a good year, and you end on a bad note and you think the whole year Sucked, but it was still a positive year.
“It was nice to start with a win, even if it wasn’t a big race. It was also my first win on the team. The few days of the Tour that we did well were really fun too.”
climb up
Outside of his early season victory, McNulty’s Tour de France ride was perhaps one of the highlights of his year. With COVID and injuries ravaging Pogacar’s support squad, the pressure mounted on those who remained in Paris with just Mikael Bjerg, Mark Hirschi and McNulty as their team leader.
McNulty headed into the mountains and earned the daily Most Aggressive award on stage 17 after pulling off a monster turn and eventually finished third on the stage behind Pogacar and eventual winner Jonas Wingård.
It’s the kind of performance that McNulty will want to find more of as it moves into 2023.
His season got off to a rocky start with a crash on the wet roads at the Trofeo Calvia on Wednesday, but McNulty will be back on Friday.
“Hopefully, I can be a little more consistent with that kind of level. But so where I need to improve now is riding day in and day out,” he said of his Tour rides.
“I think I’ve made a lot of strides climb-wise, I had more hill days in the Tour and I was there later. Also, in some of the early races where I was racing for myself, I think I definitely It was good to see that for myself.
Despite his disappointing Vuelta a España, McNulty is one of America’s best general classification prospects, alongside the likes of Sepp Kuuss, Nielsen Powles and Matteo Jorgensen. It’s been 10 years since an American rider hit the podium of a three-week race and nine years since an American won a WorldTour stage race.
McNulty feels the hope and expectation for an American rider to be on that podium again, but he says he is just focusing on the wins he really wants.
“I think it’s probably more pressure from myself,” he said. “Of course, everyone in America wants the next GC star, but it’s hard. Everyone knows it’s terrifying to go on the grand tour for a GC. Having done it, I’ve already done four, it’s really a Big step. Easier said than done. I’m more focused on myself and really trying to win races or do well at any level at this point.
While many of the major stars in cycling are fairly young, there is still room for riders to develop at a slower pace. At the age of 24, McNulty still has time to develop as a rider and is looking forward to increasing his GC abilities as well as seeing some major one-day races on the calendar.
“I want to see how far I can go as a GC rider. It’s a big level you need but I also feel I have at least some qualities,” McNulty said. “I’d also like to see if I can win the Ardennes race one year. I think I have some good one-day results now in the shorter races, and that will be interesting to find out, but I still want to do well everywhere.” I want to
