Brandon McNulty wins men's world road race title in Montreal after 33-kilometre solo attack

The decisive attack in Montreal

Brandon McNulty won the men's road race at the 2026 UCI Road World Championships in Montreal on Sunday. The 28-year-old American launched a solo move roughly 33 kilometres from the finish line on the Avenue du Parc. His attack followed an acceleration by Mexican rider Isaac Del Toro, who had closed down a four-man breakaway that included Mathieu van der Poel. While pre-race contenders hesitated, McNulty quickly established a lead of more than one minute over the chasing pack.

The exhausted winner expressed disbelief following his solo effort into the finish:

“I don't even know what's going on.”

Pursuit on the Mont Royal circuit

The 273.4-kilometre course required 13 laps of a circuit around Mont Royal, accumulating 3,800 metres of total elevation gain. Each lap featured 269 metres of climbing, dominated by the 1.7-kilometre ascent up the mountain. ZDF expert Simon Geschke, who completed the Montreal Grand Prix six times during his professional career, described the physical challenge of that climb:

“It has a nasty distance. It is too short to pace yourself, but too long to ride up in one surge.”

Behind McNulty, the chase fractured as riders repeatedly attacked without coordinating their efforts. British rider Tom Pidcock and Ireland's Ben Healy launched aggressive moves, while Belgian contender Remco Evenepoel and French rider Paul Seixas attempted to bridge the gap. With nine kilometres remaining, a pursuit group containing Del Toro and Seixas closed the deficit to ten seconds. The chasers then stalled and looked at one another, allowing McNulty to pull away again.

Podium finishers and chasing groups

McNulty crossed the finish line on Avenue du Parc with a 13-second margin of victory. Australia's Michael Matthews won the sprint for the silver medal, finishing ahead of Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel in third place. Pidcock took seventh place, while Switzerland's Mauro Schmid finished 11th after bridging across alongside Evenepoel 17 kilometres from the finish.

Swiss rider Stefan Küng placed 14th after losing contact with the lead group when the pace accelerated 50 kilometres out. His teammates Fabio Christen, Stefan Bissegger, and Jan Christen abandoned the race earlier, while Marc Hirschi fell off the pace.

Brandon McNulty1

Michael Matthews2

Mathieu van der Poel3

Tom Pidcock7

Mauro Schmid11

Stefan Küng14

Brandon McNulty

1

Michael Matthews

2

Mathieu van der Poel

3

Tom Pidcock

7

Mauro Schmid

11

Stefan Küng

14

Data from the article text

Succession from Pogacar and national outcomes

McNulty became the first American man to win the world road race title in 33 years, succeeding Lance Armstrong, who won in Oslo in 1993. The victory kept the rainbow jersey within the UAE Emirates-XRG team. Defending champion Tadej Pogacar missed the race following a severe crash one month earlier. The Slovenian rider marked the transition on social media one day before the race:

“The first day back, the last day with the rainbow.”

For German Cycling, Florian Lipowitz completed the race after a prolonged injury absence. Earlier in the day, German champion Felix Engelhardt featured in a 16-rider breakaway that built an advantage of nearly nine minutes before being absorbed on the circuit. The German federation concluded the Montreal championships with one medal, a bronze won by Franziska Koch in the individual time trial.