'Maybe Tadej will have to ride for me some days': Pogačar's trusted lieutenant Brandon McNulty takes his turn in the rainbows

With less than half a lap remaining, Summer McNulty, née Moak, snuck into the media tent alongside the finish line of the UCI Road World Championships in Montréal to see how her husband was doing.

Brandon McNulty was alone out front. There was a gap, but a small one. Behind him came the might of Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands), Michael Matthews (Australia), Mads Pedersen (Denmark), Isaac del Toro (Mexico), Tom Pidcock (Great Britain) and others.

"I'm so stressed out right now," Summer told Cycling Weekly.

Could he do it?

"I mean I hope so but I'm not going to say anything till it's finished. I'm freaking out but I hope he can do it. He deserves it."

Minutes later, McNulty soloed across the line, took a hard right towards the barriers and fell into Summer's arms.

That sentiment – that McNulty deserved it – kept coming. His American teammate Riley Sheehan said it, as did USA Cycling sports director Michael Creed. And trade teammate Tadej Pogačar, who had worn the rainbow stripes for the previous two years, took to social media to call him a king.

It is not every day that a domestique gets crowned as world champion.

"Maybe Tadej will have to ride for me a few days," McNulty joked after the race when a journalist remarked on Pogačar post.

Every domestique has his day

Since joining UAE Emirates XRG in 2020, McNulty has combined the demands of riding for the most formidable talent of his generation with the occasional opportunity of his own.

As a key domestique in the mountain stages, McNulty has helped Pogačar win three editions of the Tour de France, as well as one-day races like Milan-San Remo.

But his own results have long made clear what he can do when the opportunity comes: a Giro d'Italia stage in 2023, a Vuelta a España stage in 2024, the overall victory at the Tour de Pologne in 2025, and, notably, the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal in 2025 on the very roads where he claimed his world title today.

At that Montréal finish in 2025, Pogačar was beside him, the two celebrating together as McNulty crossed first. On Sunday, the American arrived alone.

We knew he was in form. At GP de Montréal earlier this month, McNulty a placed third. Then, in the time trial last Sunday, he had been just 12 seconds off from a medal.

Speaking to Cycling Weekly earlier this week, he said: "I think there's a chance. If we do everything perfect, to have a good shot at a medal."

Still, much of the pre-race attention on a potential successor from within the UAE-Emirates XRG team had centred on Isaac del Toro. The young Mexican had won this year's GP Montréal and featured prominently among the favourites for the world title. But perhaps they'd been looking at the wrong UAE teammate.

A Team Victory

While not the all-out favourites, the Americans, as a unit, arrived as strong contender. Van der Poel said he was watching out for them, as did Evenepoel. The question was, which American rider to mark.

Team USA lined up with three protected riders: McNulty, Quinn Simmons and Matteo Jorgenson. Their strength gave them options, and they used them.

Simmons went ahead first. Jorgenson attacked later. When the contenders came back together, McNulty seized his moment, going clear with around 33km remaining.

Once McNulty was away, his teammates kept responding to the pursuit.

"I know they were both just closing every move behind," McNUlty said with complete trust.

But for all the tactical advantages, there was still a brutal effort to finish.

"I've never been so empty,” McNUlty said.

Meanwhile, in the media tent, Summer understood both the opportunity and the uncertainty.

A former national champion on the road and record holder on the track, she had raced for Rally Cycling and won the Giro di Burnaby and Sunny King Criterium. She knew what it meant to reach the closing stages with a chance of winning.

She also knew what Montréal meant to her husband.

"He's feeling good. He's always happy on this course. I think that gives him a little bit of extra confidence."

McNulty confirmed afterwards that familiarity had helped. He had learned how to race these roads over successive visits. But knowing the course also meant knowing how much remained after the final corner.

"I knew they were coming close, and then the gap would grow," he said. "I know how long the last 500 meters are from the last corner."

He couldn’t not believe it was won until roughly 50 metres remained.

Only then could he accept what was happening. Matthews would take silver, Van der Poel bronze. McNulty would become the first American elite men's road world champion since 1993.

Even in the press conference, the result had not quite sunk in.

"Has it been an hour now?" he asked. "I really don't believe it."

McNulty had spent much of his cycling life working towards this moment alongside people in the American programme who had known him since he was a teenager.

"The men's world road race has always been the dream for everyone in the organization," he said. "It's super special to do it with people that I've known since I was really a kid."

He had fulfilled that ambition in Team USA colours.

In the coming week, McNulty will swap the red, white and blue for a rainbow striped UAE kit as he's scheduled to line up at the Giro dell’Emilia on October 3.

Whether he will actually get to race for his chances on a team that holds two of the biggest talents in the peloton has yet to be seen, but for now he’ll enjoy wearing the rainbows.

"I hope I made [Tadej Pogacar] proud by keeping the jersey in the team," McNulty said of Pogačar. "I hope he enjoyed watching."

The answer was already there on social media.

"The King of Montreal 👑 Proud of you @brandon_mcnulty 🌈🥹" Pogacar penned.