Remarkably tall. So far, that’s how it’s been UAE Team Emirates Tour of Italy, that you have crossed several goals off your list in this Corsa Rosa. Aspiring to everything is still possible in a general in which Joao Almeida is fourth (virtually third if we take Bruno Armirail out of the equation), while at the end of the second week they have two stage victories that no one will take away from them: Pascal Ackerman and Brandon McNulty. The American (25 years old) has made a quality leap last year that this season has resulted in his first victory in a Grand Tour (sixth as a professional).
“I am enthusiastic. This was my goal in coming here. I wanted to win a stage, but I got sick in the time trial. I wanted to finish alone, but luckily I managed to win even in a sprint. Let’s hope that this victory adds to the motivation of the team in the general with Joao Almeida”, explained the one from Phoenix after getting his second World Tour category win after the one harvested last year in the fifth stage of Paris-Nice.
Great time trialist and a climber, although still with a lack of consistency, capable of bursting packs, as he demonstrated in the last Tour de France on the way to Peyragudes. “It was a good day. Finally the clouds lifted, but it was a difficult stage with many ups and downs. The end was a battle. Healy came at me hard on the last long climb and I didn’t know if I would come back to him. We relieved and he started strong again on that short climb up cobblestones. I suffered, but I had plenty for the sprint. I’ve had a few chances to get into breakaways before, but today I made it and tried to win. Even suffering, the crowd kept me going,” McNulty concluded at a press conference about what happened on the stage. A May 21, 2023 that you will never forget.