Rally Cycling’s Brandon McNulty moved into seventh on the general classification at the Amgen Tour of California on Wednesday. The American started the stage four time trial in 12th place and was expected to challenge for a top-ten finish. Approaching the mid-way point in the 35 km time trial, McNulty suffered a front puncture that nearly ended in catastrophe. He was able to keep the bicycle upright before coming to a stop and jumping on a spare bike from the following car.
“I was feeling great,” said McNulty. “I was top-ten at the time split and knew I still had a bit more to give on the super fast section on the way back. I think I hit a pothole and heard a loud bang mid-corner. Once I had the bike change I knew any shot at a decent result was gone. I just had to ride it in as hard as I could and make the best of a bad situation.”
“I’m definitely frustrated but it’s one of those things and I have to move on from. I’m happy to have moved up a few spots on GC, but as much as I wanted to do well in the overall, I wanted even more to have a really good TT so it’s a bummer. All sights are forward now as we’ll have a battle on the stage to Lake Tahoe.”
McNulty went on to finish the stage in 24th, 1:43 down on stage winner Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing Team). Evan Huffman was the team’s top-placed finisher in 21st.
General classification after stage 4
1 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 12:50:55
2 Egan Bernal (Col) Team Sky 0:00:23
3 Daniel Martinez (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:00:37
4 Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:52
5 Adam Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 0:01:07
6 Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:01:29
7 Brandon McNulty (USA) Rally Cycling 0:02:08
8 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:02:13
9 Kristijan Durasek (Cro) UAE Team Emirates 0:02:15
10 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:02:34
For the stage three race report where Robin Carpenter and Evan Huffman animated the day, visit here.
