Brandon McNulty delivered one of the most stunning upsets in recent World Championship history, attacking 32 kilometres from the finish and holding off the chasing pack to win the men's elite road race in Montreal on Sunday. The 28-year-old American became the first US rider to claim the rainbow jersey since Lance Armstrong in 1993, ending a 33-year drought with a display of raw courage and tactical opportunism.
The 273.4km race — one of the longest in World Championship history — unfolded over six hours and 17 minutes of relentless racing on a circuit featuring the punishing Voie Camillien-Houde climb. McNulty, a domestique and time triallist by trade who works for Tadej Pogačar at UAE Team Emirates-XRG, turned the script upside down by launching a solo move on the penultimate lap that the chasers could never quite close.
A Race of a Thousand Attacks
From the gun, the pace was ferocious as 181 riders departed Brossard in cold, blustery conditions. A 16-man breakaway formed early and built a lead of more than eight minutes, but France, led by the extraordinary Bruno Armirail on the front for over 45 kilometres, steadily eroded the advantage. By the time the race entered the circuit phase, with 12 laps of the 13.4km Montreal loop to decide the rainbow jersey, the gap was down to under four minutes.
The race exploded in the final third. Attacks flew from all directions — Van der Poel, Healy, Pidcock, Van Aert, Roglič all had stints off the front. The defining moment came with 35km remaining, when the lead group of 12 riders was caught by a chasing group containing pre-race favourites Isaac del Toro of Mexico and Paul Seixas of France. The US team, well-represented with McNulty, Matteo Jorgenson, and Quinn Simmons — who had made it into a dangerous earlier break — seized the initiative.
Matteo Jorgenson attacked first, drawing responses. Then McNulty went, finding a gap that grew from 10 seconds to 35, and then to over a minute by the time he crossed the finish line heading into the final two laps. It was the most important solo effort of his career.
The Final Climb
What followed was agonising. McNulty's lead, which had reached 1:03, began to crumble on the final ascent of Voie Camillien-Houde. He was visibly cracking, his pace dropping as the gradient bit. The gap fell to 35 seconds, then 15, then just 10. Jorgenson, behind in the chasing group, was defending like a champion, marking every move to prevent the chasers from organising.
But the chasers could not coordinate. Van der Poel, Matthews, del Toro, Evenepoel, Pidcock — all were present, all had legs, but none could commit fully to the chase while watching their rivals. McNulty, suffering in zone 2 territory by his own admission, somehow held on. He crossed the line 13 seconds clear, hands on his head in disbelief.
"Honestly, I don't know. Really this is — I don't know. I'm really at a loss," McNulty said at the finish. "Until the last 100 metres I really didn't even believe it. I was so tired. The last climb up Mont Royal I was doing like zone 2, just dying, but I just kept pushing."
He added: "We've said for weeks now that we have a super strong team and it's possible. I think we rode really well, marked everything, had guys ahead. I'm just seriously at a loss for words."
The Absent Champion
The race was run without defending champion Tadej Pogačar, who crashed at the Vuelta a España and was unable to take the start. The Slovenian's absence threw the race wide open, and McNulty's victory was bittersweet in that context — he acknowledged thinking of his teammate and friend.
"I hope I made him proud," McNulty said, keeping the rainbow jersey within the UAE Team Emirates family.
The Bigger Picture
For American cycling, the victory is seismic. Armstrong's 1993 triumph in Oslo was the last time a US rider stood on the top step of the World Championship road race podium. In the three decades since, American cycling has cycled through doping scandals, rebuilds, and near-misses. McNulty — unassuming, self-deprecating, and a late bloomer who peaked at 28 — represents something different: a modern champion who won through audacity rather than convention.
McNulty also finished fourth in the individual time trial earlier in the week, confirming his form across both disciplines. His Montreal victory is the biggest of his career by a margin, surpassing stage wins at the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France.
Results
1. Brandon McNulty (USA) — 6:17:00 2. Michael Matthews (AUS) — +13" 3. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) — s.t. 4. Isaac del Toro (MEX) 5. Tom Pidcock (GBR) 6. Ben Healy (IRL) 7. Remco Evenepoel (BEL)
Sources
https://www.cyclingnews.com/pro-cycling/racing/uci-road-world-championships-brandon-mcnulty-shocks-the-favourites-to-win-solo-and-claim-first-elite-mens-road-race-world-title-for-usa-since-1993-in-all-time-epic-edition/ https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/articles/cqe8xr05dj1no
