Brandon McNulty: “I still feel like I’m trying to figure out what kind of rider I am"

After an impressive 2023, with a number of notable results, Brandon McNulty is ready for a career-defining season in 2024.

“I still feel like I’m trying to figure out what kind of rider I am. I mean, I try to be a GC rider, but then sometimes I have really good time trials and sometimes I’m good in one-day races,” McNulty says in an interview with Cycling News. “Maybe next year will be a chance to explore races other than just the big week-long stage races and whatnot. I’m still trying to grow."

With a stage win at the Giro d'Italia, just missing out on a podium finish at the World Championships time-trial in Glasgow and taking the American National Championships title against the clock, McNulty continued to progress positively this campaign.

“If I’m going well, then the time trial is still my speciality. But I feel like the hilly stages always suit me, and if I go through the races I’ve won, it’s always the same profile – hill, hill, hill and then downhill to the finish. So I guess those are my strengths, but I’m always trying to improve everything, so we’ll see," he analyses. “I would definitely like to try to ride the one-days next year. I’ve done Liège, but one year I was sick and the other year I was in that massive crash, so I haven’t had a good run at it, and it’s the same with Il Lombardia.”

Being in the all-star UAE Team Emirates set-up however, ensures that leadership opportunities are limited for the American. “We have such a good team that they were able to let me go to the Giro to target stages and try to help Almeida where I could. I don’t really know what I’ll do next year but I went to the Giro this year and that was a success,” says McNulty.

“Maybe the improvements are less and less each year as I get older, but I feel like I’m still getting better,” he concludes. “I hope there’s still room for improvement.”