Brandon McNulty Wins UCI Road World Championships in Montreal, First U.S. Elite Men’s Road Title Since 1993

Brandon McNulty delivered one of the crucial dramatic solo victories in latest UCI Road World Championships historical past on Sunday, attacking from roughly 35 kilometers out and holding on for a 13-second win in Montreal to change into the primary American to assert the elite males’s highway race world title in 33 years.

McNulty, using for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, accomplished the 273-kilometer (169-mile) route from Brossard to Montreal in 6 hours, 17 minutes and 4 seconds. Michael Matthews (Australia) completed second at 13 seconds, with Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) third. Teammate Quinn Simmons positioned fourth for the United States, whereas Isaac del Toro Romero (Mexico) completed fifth at 14 seconds, based on Cyclingnews.

The end result ends a 33-year drought for American biking: the final U.S. rider to win the elite males’s highway race on the World Championships was Lance Armstrong in 1993.

McNulty’s successful transfer got here after a lead breakaway was caught with roughly 35 kilometers remaining. He launched off the entrance alone and constructed a spot that swelled to over a minute earlier than the ultimate ascent of the Voie Camillien-Houde tightened it to round 10 seconds. Despite visibly struggling within the closing kilometers, he held on, whereas fellow Team USA rider Matteo Jorgenson marked the chasers within the peloton to guard the hole, per Cyclingnews. Jorgenson completed eighth.

“Until the last 300 meters, I really didn’t even believe it,” McNulty mentioned in an announcement from USA Cycling. “I was so tired… I was just dying, but I kept just pushing.”

Jorgenson mentioned the group raced with a transparent collective purpose. “We decided we just wanted an American to win this race,” he instructed USA Cycling. “The ultimate goal was getting one teammate across the line solo.”

The race befell with out Tadej Pogačar, the two-time defending champion, who didn’t compete after crashing on the Vuelta a España. Van der Poel remained a risk till the closing kilometers, however couldn’t shut the hole. Tom Pidcock (Great Britain), Ben Healy (Ireland), and Primož Roglič (Slovenia) completed additional again within the chase group, Cyclingnews reported.

The win provides a notable bookend to McNulty’s profession: USA Cycling famous he received the Junior Men’s Road Race World Title a decade in the past in 2016, additionally representing the United States.