Brandon McNulty rode into the history books on the streets of Montréal, attacking solo with 33 kilometres remaining to win the elite men's road race at the 2026 UCI Road World Championships. His finishing time of 6:17:04 ended a 33-year American wait for the rainbow jersey.
A well-timed attack, a chase in chaos
The American squad had been a constant presence at the front all day, first through Quinn Simmons, then Matteo Jorgenson. Just as the race looked set to regroup, Jorgenson punched clear with Giulio Ciccone and Tom Pidcock, forcing favourites to chase. The moment that trio was reeled in, McNulty launched.
He built a 30-second buffer almost immediately. Behind him, the chase group disintegrated into attacks and counter-attacks, his gap spiralling toward a minute while rivals looked at each other.
Fading on Mount Royal, holding on for history
On the final ascent of the Mount Royal circuit Ciccone and Pidcock surged again, hunting the remaining medals. McNulty, meanwhile, was emptying the tank. The chasers never crept closer than 10 seconds to his rear wheel.
As the American glanced over his shoulder approaching the line, Michael Matthews sprinted to silver ahead of Mathieu van der Poel, who took bronze. Reigning time trial world champion Remco Evenepoel and young Isaac del Toro had ridden aggressively but could not match the timing of the move.
"The last lap I was in zone two I was just dying but I kept pushing," McNulty said at the finish. He admitted he was lost for words: "I knew something could happen but it'd take a miracle and today, I guess, miracles do happen."
The 28-year-old from Phoenix entered the race as an outsider behind bigger names. The win on the 273-kilometre circuit, with its 3,800 metres of climbing, becomes his first world title and the biggest victory of a career that already includes stage wins at the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España.
The last American man to pull on the rainbow jersey was Lance Armstrong, who won in Oslo in 1993. That wait is now over.
