UAE Team Emirates dominated the individual time trial on stage 2 of the UAE Tour 2024. Brandon McNulty secured victory ahead of his team-mates Jay Vine and Mikkel Bjerg on the 12.1 kilometres of flat terrain on Al Hudayriyat Island just outside Abu Dhabi.
UAE Tour 2024 results - the top 10 of stage 2
- Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) 13:27
- Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) +0:02
- Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates) +0:04
- Tobias Foss (Ineos Grenadiers) +0:14
- Rainer Kepplinger (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:16
- Ilan van Wilder (Soudal - Quick Step) +0:17
- Johan Price Pejtersen (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:19
- Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:19
- Bruno Armirail (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +0:20
- Ivan Romeo (Movistar) +0:21
McNulty, who was one of the first riders on the course, completed the 12.1 kilometres in 13:27 minutes at an average speed of 53.977 km/h. His team-mates Jay Vine and Mikkel Bjerg were two and four seconds slower respectively. His team-mates Jay Vine and Mikkel Bjerg were two and four seconds slower respectively. McNulty thus also takes the leader's jersey of the tour.
"We expected the wind to get at least a little stronger during the course of the day. So we sent our two best riders to the start first. I think that paid off," explained stage winner McNulty in the official interview.
Pello Bilbao and Ben O'Connor keep time loss within limits
The internal battle within the UAE Team Emirates team is likely to be the main source of excitement over the next few days. Although McNulty won the time trial, the nominal captain of UAE Team Emirates, Adam Yates, lost 28 seconds.
Ilan van Wilder (Soudal - Quick Step) and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) were the best of the other contenders for overall victory. The Belgian van Wilder lost 17 seconds to McNulty, the Basque Bilbao 19 seconds. Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) was also able to limit his time loss to 22 seconds.
As expected, the German riders were unable to intervene in the battle for the stage win. The best German was Nikias Arndt (Bahrain-Victorious) in 28th place, 41 seconds behind. Even further ahead was his Austrian team-mate Rainer Kepplinger, who finished fifth on the day, losing just 16 seconds.
