Brandon McNulty crowned Volta Valenciana Champion

Brandon McNulty finished off a successful week at the Volta Valenciana taking home the yellow jersey after winning the Queen stage just 24 hours before.

The American finished safely in the bunch on stage 5 from Bétera to Valencia (93km) which was won by his compatriot Will Barta (Movistar) from an early breakaway.

McNulty finished the five-day race 14 seconds ahead of Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) and 17 seconds on Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe). Felix Grossschartner (UAE Team Emirates) put in a good ride to take 7th place on GC, while Jan Christen took 10th place on the final stage into Valencia.

McNulty: “It feels nice. I knew I had good legs last week in Mallorca, so to come here and get the win is nice. It was a bit less chaotic than last year but we knew Bora would try on the long climb. Vlasov attacked and they were racing for the bonus seconds, so it was hard. But once we were on the downhill, it was controlled, and we just had to stay safe. In the end, it was a nice day. My goals are to try to win anything I can. I prefer a start like this than to be suffering off the back all week, so I’m really happy with this.“

Stage 5 results

1.Will Barta (Movistar) 2:08:18

2.Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) +8”

3.Vito Braet (Intermarche Wanty) s.t

10.Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates) s.t

Final General Classification 

1.Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) 17:52:34

2.Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) +14”

3.Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +17”