McNulty new leader in the Basque Country

Brandon McNulty is the new leader of the General Classification at Itzulia Basque Country.

In today’s fourth stage, the young American rider was up in the heart of the action in the last 25km, first attacking and then controlling the group of five riders who went in the break with him.

In the final sprint McNulty took third place behind Ion Izagirre (Astana – Premier Tech) and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain – Victorious), taking hold of the General standings with a lead of 23″ advantage of his closest rival Primoz Roglič (Team Jumbo-Visma).

UAE Team Emirates are leaving a strong mark on the race with Pogačar, now 5th in the GC and leader of the mountains classification.

McNulty: “For sure we were aiming for the stage win without thinking too much about the leader’s jersey, but I’m obviously happy with the result today. I feel good and ready to face the last two stages. Tomorrow could be another tricky stage, while Saturday will be an epic day. We’ll do our best to defend the leaders jersey.”

Tomorrow is the flattest of the stages of this edition of La Itzulia, 160.2 km from Hondarribia to Ondarroa, with a rare chance for sprinters.

 
Results 4th stage:
1.Ion Izagirre (Astana – Premier Tech) 4h17’07”
2.Pello Bilbao (Bahrain – Victorious) s.t.
3.Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.

General classification after the 4th stage:
1.Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) 12h25’21”
2.Primoz Roglič (Team Jumbo-Visma) +23″
3. Jonas Vingegaard (Team Jumbo-Visma) +28″
5.Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) +43″