Brandon McNulty is not the name on everyone’s lips heading into Sunday’s elite men’s road race at the World Championships. Remco Evenepoel, Isaac del Toro and Paul Seixas dominate the conversation, and fairly so. Yet look closer at the form, the course and the team dynamics, and McNulty emerges as one of the most intriguing medal threats in Montreal.
The American arrives with the purest evidence anyone can claim: a third place on these exact roads at GP Montreal just two weeks ago, chasing down a late attack from del Toro and Seixas. He followed that with a near-miss in the time trial, finishing fourth. That combination of climbing punch and race sharpness is rare, and it matches the Mount Royal circuit’s demands almost perfectly—repeated short climbs, a grinding false flat to the line, and a race long enough to punish anyone who peaks too early.
Pogacar’s absence removes the sport’s most ruthless closer. Without him, the race becomes a game of hesitation and calculated aggression. That is where McNulty thrives. He does not need to control the race; he simply needs to be in the right move when the favourites start watching one another.
Team USA has the numbers to force that scenario—Quinn Simmons and Matteo Jorgenson can attack early or mark dangerous wheels, leaving McNulty free to sit and strike.
McNulty has already shown he belongs with the best on this course. If the race fractures and the top names cancel each other out, the rainbow jersey could end up on American shoulders for the first time in more than three decades.