Brandon McNulty stunned the field to win the road race at the world championships in Canada, becoming the first American to take the rainbow jersey since Lance Armstrong in 1993. After 273.4 punishing kilometres, Australia’s Michael Matthews claimed silver and Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel took bronze. The 28-year-old McNulty first struck his handlebars in celebration, then covered his face in disbelief.
The decisive move came about 33 kilometres from the finish. McNulty, a teammate of injured defending champion Tadej Pogačar, seized the moment while the leading favourites hesitated. Paul Seixas, Isaac Del Toro and Remco Evenepoel did not respond immediately and were too late when they did. McNulty said afterwards that he had “died” during the final, exhausting 33 kilometres alone and was still trying to understand what he had achieved.
The race covered 13 circuits around Montreal’s Mont Royal, with 269 metres of climbing per lap and a 1.7-kilometre ascent among the three climbs. An early breakaway of 16 riders, including German champion Felix Engelhardt, built a lead of nearly nine minutes before being reeled in. France had controlled the race for Seixas, whose weaker sprint among the favourites made a solo attack the likely route to victory.
With 90 kilometres remaining, former world champion Van der Poel attacked and helped form a powerful group with Wout van Aert, American Quinn Simmons and Primož Roglič. Seixas and Del Toro had to lead the chase, while Florian Lipowitz was dropped as he returned from a long absence after breaking his collarbone two months earlier. The group was caught 34 kilometres from the finish, opening the final phase of the race.
On the eve of the event, Pogačar posted on Instagram that he had ridden for the first time since a severe crash a month earlier and was saying goodbye to the rainbow jersey. The previous American world road champion was Armstrong, who won in Oslo in 1993 and was later banned for life for doping.