Brandon McNulty and Team USA Take Historic World Title in Elite Men’s Road Race at the 2026 UCI Road World Championships

On the final day of the 2026 UCI Road World Championships, the eight-rider American squad made history. Brandon McNulty (Phoenix, Ariz.; UAE Team Emirates-XRG) became the first American to win the Elite Men’s Road Race World Title since 1993, adding another rainbow jersey to his résumé exactly 10 years after he won the Junior Men’s Road Race World Title in 2016.

McNulty was joined by Quinn Simmons (Durango, Colo.; Lidl-Trek), Matteo Jorgenson (Boise, Idaho; Visma | Lease A Bike), Sean Quinn (Los Angeles, Calif.; EF Education-EasyPost), Kevin Vermaerke (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.; UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Artem Shmidt (Cumming, Ga.; Netcompany INEOS), Larry Warbasse (Traverse City, Mich.; Tudor Pro Cycling Team), and Riley Sheehan (Boulder, Colo.; NSN Cycling Team), with all eight riders committed to putting an American in the rainbow stripes.

The race began similarly to the Elite Women’s event, with the men’s field rolling out from Brossard, south of Montréal. From there, the riders crossed the river and raced 100 kilometers before reaching the challenging Montréal circuit, which they would complete 12 times. In total, the 273-kilometer (169 miles) course featured 3,578 meters (11,739 feet) of climbing.

As the race reached the circuit, the attacks began to heat up. With 87 kilometers remaining, Wout van Aert (BEL) launched an attack and was joined by Anthon Charmig (DEN), Mathieu Van der Poel (NED), Simmons, Primož Roglič (SLO) and Oscar Onley (GBR).

Van der Poel then pushed the pace again, splitting the group and leaving Simmons and Onley with him. Roglič later bridged across, forming a four-rider group before Ben Healy (IRE) made the connection with 39 kilometers to go, passing a fading Onley in the process. Isaac del Toro (MEX) then helped bring the chasing group back into contention. With 32 kilometers left, McNulty made his move. He quickly settled into a time-trial rhythm and grew the gap to 1:08 with only two laps left.

Behind him, the attacks continued. The constant surges kept the chase from fully organizing. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) launched another major attack just before the final lap, but McNulty still held 52 seconds as he came into the park with one lap to go. 

Pidcock's (GBR) surges finally brought the gap down to 32 seconds at the foot of the Polytechnique climb. Van der Poel and Mauro Schmid (SUI) also tried to make a move, but Jorgenson, riding in support of his American teammate, shut down each threat.

McNulty carried his advantage onto the uphill finishing straight, securing the Elite Men’s World Title and becoming the first American in 33 years to wear the rainbow stripes. It was a massive effort from the entire team. 

As McNulty crossed the line, he immediately ran to hug his wife and then celebrated with his teammates in the finish corral. He was in total disbelief. "Until the last 300 meters, I really didn't even believe it. I was so tired… Up the last climb I was only doing zone two. I was just dying, but I kept just pushing."

When asked about the team effort from Simmons and Jorgenson, McNulty said, "We've said for weeks now that we have a super strong team, and that is possible. I think we rode, I mean, crazy well. We marked everything, had guys ahead. I'm seriously at a loss for words."

When asked if he believed he could be world champion today, he said, "No, I mean, we thought about it. I made some jokes with my wife, but in the end, I knew something could happen, but it would take a miracle. And, I guess, today, miracles happen."

After the race, Jorgenson commented on their strategy, “We made a plan last night. We set our egos aside a little bit, and we decided, we just wanted an American to win this race. I really think that we played the perfect race with Quinn [Simmons] able to follow that move with Wout [van Aert] and [Matthieu] Van der Poel to neutralize it, and then Brandon and I were able to take advantage of [Paul] Sexias and [Isaac] Del Toro, who spent a bunch of energy. As soon as it all came back together, we could get one of us solo, which was the ultimate goal. From there, thankfully, I had crazy legs, and I was able to follow a bunch of moves, and make some guys a little bit frustrated, which really helped.”

Results:

1. Brandon McNulty (USA) – 6:17:04

2. Michael Matthews (AUS) – +13

3. Mathieu van der Poel (NED) – +13

4. Quinn Simmons (USA) – +13

8. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) – +14

48. Riley Sheehan (USA) – +10:00

57. Larry Warbasse (USA) – +15:35

DNF. Kevin Vermaerke (USA)

DNF. Artem Shmidt (USA)

DNF. Sean Quinn (USA)