Brandon McNulty's disappointment was evident as he crossed the finish line in Tavira after Saturday's time trial, but his Volta ao Algarve took on a different It took on a different hue.

The finale of the traditional Portuguese race brought the usual turbulence, with the yellow jersey group splitting on the first climb of Marhão, but Quick-Step Alfa Vinyl regained order on the other side and winner Remco Evenpoel took the lead in the final kilometers. He took the lead in the final kilometers.

McNulty was one of four to match Evenpoel's pace, along with Sergio Iguita (Bora-Hansgrohe), Daniel Martinez (Ineos), and David Gaudou (Groupama-FDJ). Although he was not able to match Higuain's sprinting game, the UAE Team Emirates rider finished third in the stage and moved up one spot in the overall standings.

"I had good legs and was able to hang on until the end. It was good to feel confident, but I got passed. I have nothing to complain about losing to those guys," McNulty told reporters after stopping his wheels just past the finish line. [It was] a super aggressive day. They spotted a small weakness in the quickstep, but obviously they defended well and had a lot of attacks. It took us a long time to break and we were pretty far from the finish. It was super aggressive, but fun."

McNulty finished the race 1:17 ahead of the impregnable Evenpoel and 4 seconds ahead of Martinez, his best finish in a UCI pro-level stage race and his best finish in a multi-day event of any kind since winning the 2019 Giro di Sicilia. He said, "I knew Martinez was super strong and I had to respect him, but I knew I couldn't let five seconds get away from him on the climbs." [In Saturday's 32.2km time trial, he was 1:25 ahead of Evenpoel. At this early point in the season, some issues are still unresolved. We're going to work it out," he said. The numbers were good. We have no problems with our performance. He was cautious about the time trial.

"I am certainly happy with the race and the overall. The time trial could have been a little bit better. As for the race, it was really good. Overall I'm very happy. As for the race, we continue to make progress."

McNulty won the Trofeo Calvia in the 2022 season with a 60km solo attack, his first victory since 2019. He followed the same form with a podium finish at the Volta Ao Algarve.

"Everything is going well, it's snowballing. "One good race leads to another, and this momentum will carry over to the rest of the year. I'm hoping to carry this momentum into the rest of the year."

In July, McNulty will be part of the squad that will lead Tadej Pogachar to his third consecutive Tour de France victory, but at this early stage of the season, the American is free to pursue personal success. His next stage race is Paris-Nice, where he has unfinished business since crashing out of third place overall a year ago.

"Certainly I was unlucky last year. Going into my first World Tour stage race of the year, I feel a little more confident and it's good to be able to race. I'm looking forward to it," McNulty said. Last year I could have been on the podium or in the top five, and I'm a lot stronger than last year. We'll see what happens