Brandon McNulty: ‘It’s nice that we have multiple cards to play at UAE Tour’

American time trial champion and Mikkel Bjerg speak to GCN ahead of the race, as the pair engage in a friendly TT rivalry and look to the team’s GC ambitions

01:41, Monday 19th February 2024

George Poole

Junior Writer

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Brandon McNulty recently won stage 4 of the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana

Whether it be Adam Yates versus Ben O’Connor on Jebel Hafeet, Mark Cavendish versus Fabio Jakobsen in the sprints or the peloton versus the crosswinds across the desert, there are a whole host of showdowns to look forward to at this year’s UAE Tour. But one rivalry that we might not have expected is the friendly intra-squad competition at UAE Team Emirates in stage 2’s time trial.

Taking a pew with GCN on the eve of the race, both Mikkel Bjerg and Brandon McNulty joked that they would be gunning for one another’s time on Tuesday in the 12.1km test around Hudayriyat Island.

“I just want to beat Brandon in the TT,” laughed Bjerg. “He beat me in the Worlds last year, so it should be nice to see if I can get one back on him. I think for me, that's the first goal, beat Brandon in the TT and then after [that] I promise to help him.”

Bjerg’s support will certainly be of value to McNulty and fellow co-leader of UAE Team Emirates, Adam Yates, with both riders tipped to compete for the podium over the next week. Yates is a former winner of the UAE Tour and to McNulty’s credit, the American started the campaign in blistering form with a stage win and the overall title at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana.

Given his pedigree, Yates will start the race as UAE Team Emirates’ number one in command, and word within the team is that the British climber is heading into this week in blistering form following his recent Tour of Oman victory.

“He is flying,” Bjerg is not shy in revealing. “It can be always be a little bit stressful with the possibility of crosswinds and crashes, it's a really hard race actually. It might look a bit easy on paper, but it's actually really stressful to be here and we just need to keep him out of trouble.

“He has shown before he can do it, also when he was with Ineos, so we just need to get him to the Jebel Hafeet climb healthy and with fresh water bottles, and he will do the rest.”

Yates was the winner atop the race’s centrepiece last season, pipping Remco Evenepoel in a memorable battle, and is good value to conquer Jebel Hafeet once more this time around. For UAE Team Emirates, though, they will hope that McNulty is there with the 31-year-old come the business end of the race.

“I'd like to help Adam and then see where I can go. I think it's nice that we can have two cards as well, so I can play off him because everyone will look at him,” acknowledges the American. “The TT always plays into my hands because it's one of my strengths and we'll try to stay safe and see how the last day goes.”

For both Bjerg and McNulty, all joking of a friendly rivalry aside, the time trial will be a defining moment of the week.

Contract year for Bjerg, who embraces the challenge

Mikkel Bjerg's first professional victory came in the stage 4 time trial of last year's Critérium du Dauphiné

Part of Tadej Pogačar’s Tour de France-winning team in 2021 and a critical cog in the Slovenian’s stage-winning exploits ever since, it is hard to remember a time when Bjerg was not in UAE Team Emirates colours. But after four seasons with the Italian outfit, the Dane’s contract is up at the end of the current campaign.

Rather than let the pressure tell, however, Bjerg is determined to prove his worth as both a valuable teammate and a winner in his own right.

"It's a little bit of a stressful time, but I actually kind of enjoy it, it brings the best out of me,” he says. “You always hear that some guys try to focus more in their contract year, and I actually felt like I always worked really hard, but I think mentally I just stepped up like one level for this year. That is just because I know what is at stake, also [because] possibilities within the team change and you train more and you know when you have a good shape.”

Such form should be with the Dane for the next seven days of racing. After being hampered by illness before his first block of racing in Spain, Bjerg has since found his legs and recently completed an altitude training camp in Sierra Nevada. As he looks to add to his single professional victory, stage 2 presents a fantastic opportunity in the time trial.

“I think it was really important for me to show that I have the level from the start and I am just really excited to get racing,” he says, two days out from the race. “Hopefully, I can get a win on stage 2, but if I don't get the win, then it's good training before the Tirreno TT.”

Clocking up sixth and third-place finishes in his two previous time trials in the UAE Tour - both of which were also held on similarly untechnical courses - Bjerg should be a strong contender to take his first stage victory on Tuesday.

“It's a lot of the same course as before. We went there today and it's a no-bullshit course. In this TT, the strongest guy wins, so it should be good to show that I trained hard in the winter. There is for sure some strategy to it, but the best guy wins.

“If I lose to Brandon or to anybody else, that's life,” he philosophically adds.

As to who might come out on top from the pair in the race against the clock, McNulty can’t help but laugh.

“I don't know! This one is tough because it's quite flat, short and he's a lot bigger than me. I will try, he's my main target!”

For all the important information about the 2024 UAE Tour, be sure to check out our dedicated race hub for our full preview, the race startlist and much more.