Young riders joining a new team on another continent usually find themselves among strangers. However, that was not the case for Brandon McNulty. This winter, for the first time since moving to UAE Team Emirates, he was reunited with old acquaintances.

Danish Mikkel Bjerg, who competed for time trial supremacy in the juniors and under-23s, is another novice; Tadei Pogachar, who lost to McNulty in the 2015 junior piece race, is in his second year with the team.

UAE Team Emirates has invested in its youngsters over the past few seasons as the baseball team has stockpiled draft picks and carefully rebuilt its roster rather than relying on big free agency selections.

Theo Epstein-like figure in this strategy is Matisin Joxean Fernandez, who first contacted McNulty in 2018. At that point, McNulty had hoped to stay with Rally Cycling for another season, but his decision to join UAE Team Emirates this season was largely due to their focus on developing young talent.

"I think they are showing great interest in developing players for the next three to five years," McNulty told Cycling News on the eve of the Vuelta a San Juan, his first appearance with his new team. "Last year I saw what happened with the team, and I'm very proud of it. It was clear that Pogacar, Philipsen, and the other young riders were taking it seriously. It was clear they were looking to the future, and I think that's good for my situation." [McNulty is mindful, however, that athletes develop at very different rates in their late teens and early twenties. Pogachal's debut season at the Vuelta a España, with three stage victories and third overall, was very encouraging, but there is another aspect that is completely unrelated. McNulty is on his own path, as he has always been.

"I think everyone has their own pace, and the same can be said for Pogachar. I remember beating him when we were juniors. Everyone grows up at a different rate, but it's exciting to see a player you like and know well do well. It's motivation for all of us."

McNulty has carefully monitored his own evolution over the past three years, and after his stylish victory at the 2016 Doha World Championships Junior Time Trial, the common wisdom is that he has done what talented young American riders have been prone to do since the days of Jock Boyer: hard They were told they should go to Europe for the traditional trials of maturity, where they would be given tough lessons given by the school of knocks.

He persevered and chose the road less traveled, joining the Rally, which at the time was a continental team and was composed primarily of American riders. Had McNulty followed a more traditional path, his talents would have led him to the same destination, the World Tour. However, McNulty would have undoubtedly had a different experience. This way, he could have been based at home in Phoenix and still have a steady diet of European races.

"There are a lot of Americans who spend eight months out of the year in Europe and hate that life. I remember being in the National Team House in Sittard as a junior. All the players who had been there for a long time were depressed or something. But at the rally, it was like a good bit of both," McNulty joked: "I was at home, came to Europe, and got my head kicked in."

McNulty's growth in rallying was also largely matched by his own: in his second year, he was promoted to the Pro Continental level and earned an invitation to the 2019 Tour de Suisse.

"When I went to the rally, I wondered if I had made the right decision, but looking back now, they have grown with me," McNulty said, especially the example set by men like Danny Pate and Svein Tufts, who ended their careers with the team McNulty paid tribute to the "great people" of the team. Whenever Svein was around, the team stepped up. He kept everyone in line and made sure everyone was doing the right thing.

McNulty knew he was headed in the right direction in his second season at Rally. Although he suffered physical problems in the subsequent Tour of California and Tour de Suisse, this victory in Sicily effectively sealed McNulty's promotion to the World Tour.

"It's a bit of a relief," said McNulty. 'I had a few close calls throughout the year in 2018, and I had some decent results in the early part of 2019, so it's nice to actually win something for once. It made me feel confident that I was ready to make the jump this year."

McNulty will make his UAE Team Emirates debut at the Vuelta a San Juan on Sunday. Despite suffering a minor illness upon arrival in Argentina, the 21-year-old is hoping for an early opportunity to showcase his talents in the stage 3 time trial to Punta Negra. The riders will take on the 15.1-km test on regular road bikes, but McNulty believes the stage will favor those who excel in time trials.

"It's not like the 3km prologue, it's a 15km time trial, so it's the same principle, just different bikes. Between the time trial and the queen stage [to Alto Colorado on stage 5], I'm going to ride to get a good result on GC."

Looking ahead to the 2019 season, McNulty wondered if his future might ultimately lie in one-day races, but his climbing performances last year have encouraged him to continue exploring his overall class prospects, at least for now.

"Obviously, I'm running more for GC now, but I don't want to limit myself completely," said McNulty, whose 2020 program also includes the Ardennes Classics.

However, his calendar is dominated by stage races. After Argentina, the Ruta del Sol is scheduled in Andalusia, followed by Paris-Nice in March, and he could make his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a España. Former rally teammate Sepp Kuss won a stage in Spain last season and shined in Spain as a neo-pro in 2018.

For McNulty, there are many familiar faces in the professional peloton. New World Tour riders such as Ian Garrison (Deceuninck-QuickStep) and Matteo Jorgenson (Movistar).

"I ran almost every race with them as a junior," McNulty said. Half of the [U.S. national] team from my year is on the World Tour.

Even on the arid plains of San Juan, McNulty could not avoid the company of old friends. Travis McCabe, also from Arizona, is from Tucson, two hours away, and is making his debut with the Israeli Startup Nation. The world tour seems to be a destination with no set route.