American cyclist Brandon McNulty executed a decisive late attack to capture the elite men’s road race title at the 2026 UCI Road World Championships in Montreal. This victory ended a 33-year wait for a United States winner in the event. While McNulty celebrated the biggest win of his career, Great Britain’s Tom Pidcock finished seventh after navigating a chaotic race marked by tactical maneuvers from opposing riders and defensive riding.
McNulty launched his solo move with 32 kilometers remaining in the 273-kilometer race. He quickly built an insurmountable lead over a fragmented chasing group. The 28-year-old from Phoenix completed the grueling course in 6 hours, 17 minutes, and 4 seconds. Behind him, Australia’s Michael Matthews secured the silver medal, finishing 13 seconds back. Former world champion Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands took the bronze on the same time.
The victory highlighted the growing tactical depth of the United States team, which placed three riders in the top eight. Quinn Simmons finished fourth, and Matteo Jorgenson placed eighth. McNulty noted after the race that the American squad executed their plan to perfection by keeping riders active at the front throughout the afternoon.
“We’ve said for weeks that we have a super strong team and that it’s possible. We rode crazy well. We marked everything, had guys ahead,” McNulty said. “I knew something could happen, but it would take a miracle. I guess today, a miracle happened.”
Tom Pidcock Questions Rival Team Dynamics
The chaotic nature of the race, ridden without race radios, created an unpredictable battleground that frustrated several top contenders. Tom Pidcock spent much of the final hour animating the chase groups. He finished seventh overall after surviving an earlier crash on the circuit.
Following the finish, Pidcock pointed to the defensive riding displayed by Team USA’s Matteo Jorgenson and Mexican rider Isaac del Toro during the critical chase phases. Del Toro, who rides alongside McNulty for the UAE-Team Emirates XRG trade team during the regular season, repeatedly attacked from the chasing groups while the main pack struggled to establish a cohesive pursuit.
With McNulty holding a buffer that reached nearly a minute at its peak, the chasers engaged in a series of counter-attacks that ultimately stalled their momentum. Pidcock and Italian rider Giulio Ciccone attempted to bridge the gap on the final ascent of the main circuit climb. However, they were unable to generate enough separation to pull back the lone American leader.
“The last lap I was in zone two, I was just dying, but I kept pushing,” McNulty said of his desperate final kilometers, where his lead shrank to roughly 10 seconds before stabilizing.
A Historic Triumph for American Cycling
McNulty’s victory marks the first time an American male has worn the prestigious rainbow jersey since Lance Armstrong won the road race world title in Oslo in 1993. The triumph follows a stellar buildup for McNulty, who won the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal in 2025 and finished third at the same event earlier in September.
The absence of two-year defending champion Tadej Pogacar-who was recovering from a training crash-left the field wide open. Pre-race favorites such as Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert found themselves stymied by a combination of aggressive racing and conflicting national team tactics.
As McNulty claims the rainbow jersey for the next 12 months, the cycling world is left to dissect a chaotic championship race. In this event, secondary leaders and super domestiques stepped out of the shadows to claim individual glory.
2026 UCI Road World Championships: Men’s Elite Road Race Top 10
- 1. Brandon McNulty (United States) – 6:17:04
- 2. Michael Matthews (Australia) – +13s
- 3. Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) – s.t.
- 4. Quinn Simmons (United States) – s.t.
- 5. Isaac del Toro (Mexico) – +14s
- 6. Mads Pedersen (Denmark) – s.t.
- 7. Tom Pidcock (Great Britain) – s.t.
- 8. Matteo Jorgenson (United States) – s.t.
- 9. Giulio Ciccone (Italy) – s.t.
- 10. Ben Healy (Ireland) – s.t.
