Brandon McNulty on post-crash peloton anxiety: "After a big crash you’re always scared to fight"

Brandon McNulty is one of the main favourites for the ongoing Tour de Romandie, and the American has talked about his feelings during the first stages of the race - after a late spring that has seen illnesses and crashes hinder him from performing at his best.

McNulty spoke to VeloNews at the start of stage two of the Tour de Romandie, where he played a role in the finale, having attacked in the final hilltop finish in Romont - followed by Rohan Dennis and Dylan Teuns who went on to fight for the stage win. “It looked okay in the end, and I was able to kind of attack but I was actually feeling really bad... I felt good for maybe a minute and a half and normally I can sustain that but when he went I just blew," he said, having finished 21st in the day.

Having taken wins at the Trofeo Calvia, Faun-Ardèche Classic and Paris-Nice, the young American has stepped his level up a notch, having been in the fight for several other races inbetween. After his successful Paris-Nice, he got ill with Covid-19, and on his return to the peloton at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, he hit the deck alongside many others. 

He has one final opportunity this spring to net some results, and it's here at the Tour de Romandie where he currently sits inside the Top10: "With the crash in Liège, it just means that it’s day-by-day and hopefully, I can get through today safely, and then from tomorrow onwards it gets harder.”

“The wounds are healing quickly but it’s still sore. Yesterday I was feeling really bad at the back and then with 30km to go, I just had to shut everything off and get to the front. It was also difficult mentally because after a big crash you’re always scared to fight. So you really have to turn that back on," he added.

Despite not giving the best signs, McNulty should still play a role in the battle for the overall classification, and will be leading the UAE Team Emirates team alongside Juan Ayuso in the Swiss Alps.