McNulty, from model team-mate to American dream
He has enjoyed early success but, doing his job at UAE Team Emirates, he works for another rider. But now Brandon McNulty is the world champion!
Thanks to his tactical sense and an underrated physical potential, Brandon McNulty took advantage of an American squad that has been tightknit since their teenage years to claim the title of a lifetime, thus stepping out of the shadow of Tadej Pogačar, for whom he is a model team-mate for the rest of the year.
– By Luc Herincx | L’Equipe (Photography by Stefano Sirotti)
Exceptionally expressive, Brandon McNulty almost brutalised his handlebar in astonishment as he approached the line on Avenue du Parc in Montreal, where his partner, Summer, then draped him in the Stars and Stripes like an American icon. With his hands and gaze twitching, and his voice hesitant in front of the media, Brandon McNulty does not have the natural aura of a great champion.
“Some people recognise me back home, but it’s really not like I’m an NFL star,” he was still joking two years ago.
This world title, won at the end of a crazy race, nonetheless elevates him to the rank of cycling superstar in his country, following in the footsteps of Greg LeMond (1983 and 1989) and Lance Armstrong (1993) in the rainbow jersey. “Honestly, I don’t know what’s going on in my head… I don’t know, I don’t understand,” he stammered before stepping onto the podium, where the American spectators escorted him with non-stop chants: “USA! USA! USA!”
“I cracked a few jokes this week about becoming world champion, but I didn’t really believe it,” admitted the 28-year-old. “Well, I knew there was a chance, but it would take a miracle. I guess a miracle has just happened.”
In a desert state of a country that calls for God’s blessing (“God Bless America”), McNulty was introduced to mountain biking by his father at the age of eight before discovering his abilities on the road. US junior time trial champion in 2015, the kid from Arizona toughened up within the national teams, whose staff he was keen to salute on Sunday after his consecration: “I was still a kid when I met most of the people involved in this title. It’s super special to get here with these people. I think everyone is over the moon right now.”
McNulty and Jorgenson, a friendship since the junior years
Among those “involved in this title” is a child of Colorado with whom he shared countless hours on buses travelling to races, and who was one of his main supports on Sunday: Matteo Jorgenson. “We had the same coach in juniors so we did a lot of trips together,” explained the Visma-Lease a Bike rider in 2024. “When we were 14, we came to Belgium, we were team-mates and we rode a lot of races. We built a connection.”
The paths of the two American talents diverged as they neared the professional ranks, McNulty very quickly catching the eye of big teams, spending three years first with Rally Cycling before being spotted and signed by UAE, the rival team of Visma, which Jorgenson joined in 2024. But their friendship survived and turned the latter into a guardian angel on Sunday, marking all the counter-attacks launched behind McNulty’s 33km solo. “We just wanted an American to win and I think we rode the perfect race, I’m so excited to go out tonight and celebrate this,” rejoiced the bodyguard.
This role is usually assigned to McNulty within the Emirati squad, where he has become a model domestique, rarely in the spotlight and very often working for Tadej Pogacar, notably for two of his Tour de France victories (2021 and 2026). When Isaac Del Toro won in Barcelona (stage two) this year, the Slovenian leader immediately embraced McNulty’s partner to show his gratitude to the American: “Oh Brandon today… Give him a kiss tonight!”
For his loyalty to the double world champion, McNulty had also been thanked with Pogacar’s “gift” at the Grand Prix de Montréal last year, on the same circuit as these Worlds, where he managed to rejoin his leader and then win on Avenue du Parc. “He’s a rider who is always very alert in the race and intelligent,” praises Fabio Baldato, one of his sports directors at UAE. “I backed him during these worlds while the favourites were all going at it. Brandon knew how to act at just the right moment and that’s no accident; the Montreal course in particular suits him perfectly.”
Without really knowing why, McNulty “really likes racing on circuits”. Perhaps because there he can repeatedly showcase both his time-trialling qualities (4th in the world championships TT last Sunday) – as on that flat section where he attacked 33km from the finish line of the road race – and his climbing resilience.
“He’s a winner who is not undeserved but unexpected,” acknowledged Thomas Voeckler, the French national coach. “That nuance matters. He’s a rider who had the title in his legs but works in the shadows all year. And given how the race unfolded today, it was meant to be for his nation.”
The perfect plan from the United States
A tight-knit team carried by an exceptional generation of “gremlins”, aggressive racers who sprouted after a period of drift in the post-Armstrong disillusionment. “We’ve all developed really well, it’s exciting,” McNulty reflected two years ago. “I don’t think there’s a particular reason, it just happened that way in the United States.
“I remember that before my generation there was a lull, and then Matteo and some other guys arrived… After that, the country is so big that it’s hard to say if cycling has really developed. Gravel has taken up space but otherwise… Sepp’s (Kuss) Vuelta win (in 2023) created something but it’s still a minor sport here. At home, in Arizona, it’s pretty niche.”
McNulty may remain anonymous in Phoenix, but everywhere else in the world where he meets cycling fans, the American will be, in their eyes and for eternity, the winner of these astounding worlds.
