Brandon McNulty matches rarely-seen statistic for first time in 27 years - Pogacar and Del Toro's UAE hierarchy influence World Championships winner's results
Cycling
Brandon McNulty's sensational World Championships victory not only saw him keep the rainbow jersey within the UAE Team Emirates - XRG ranks, but it also saw the American match a statistic last recorded in 1999 - 27 years ago.
In winning gold after a 32-kilometre solo off the front of the group of favourites, the 28-year-old became the first rider since Oscar Freire where their first win of the season was the World Championships road race.
With Tadej Pogacar and Isaac del Toro the clear leaders within UAE's current hierarchy, McNulty's rainbow jersey certainly changes the dynamics within the team. Usually a teammate to Pogacar and del Toro in major races, UAE now have to fit the rainbow jersey into their race plans.
Although McNulty is likely to continue working in service of Pogacar in major races such as the Tour de France, the American could well boast leadership roles in other races off the back of his victory.
McNulty's role as domestique for Pogacar and del Toro
In 2026, McNulty rode the Tour de France, Tour de Suisse and Milano Sanremo as a domestique for Pogacar, he also started Itzulia Basque Country in service of del Toro. Elsewhere, he seemingly had more freedom at Volta a Catalunya and Paris-Nice despite Joao Almeida starting in Catalunya.
While majority of world champions in the past three decades have tasted victory while in the rainbow jersey, McNulty's versatility and teamwork means that he could well be deployed in service of UAE's leaders in major races.
Nonetheless, McNulty has 16 individual wins since joining UAE, as well as five overall victories in his seven seasons at the team. He's contracted with the squad until the end of the 2030 season, with his peak years set to be rode with Mauro Gianetti's outfit.
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Meanwhile, McNulty's USA teammate Matteo Jorgenson has spent much of the last two seasons racing on the opposite side of Pogacar and UAE. In Montreal, the Visma rider ended up playing a crucial part in helping one of their riders into the rainbow jersey.
Jorgenson was wearing American colours rather than Visma’s at the World Championships, but his job became increasingly important once Brandon McNulty escaped with 33 kilometres remaining. While McNulty built his advantage, Jorgenson and Quinn Simmons stayed alive behind him, forcing every rival nation to think twice about how much they were prepared to contribute to the chase.
“McNulty attacked at the right moment, while Matteo Jorgenson selflessly covered every attack in the finale and disrupted the rhythm of the group,” Slavko Jeric reflected on RTV Slovenia's SOS-odmev podcast.
It also gave Toni Gruden the chance to revive one of the lingering subplots of the UAE-Visma rivalry - UAE's seemingly attentive marking of Jorgenson in races. “Maybe UAE will finally take Jorgenson off their blacklist now,” he joked.
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- I never watched cycling back when LA was riding, but from what I’ve heard LA was a nasty piece of work in the Peloton, so nothing would surprise me! 😆Lozza01-10-2026
- Wout had a great year, finally getting a cobble, plus green jersey and 2 stages at Vuelta and fantastic team work for Brennan, plus other nice wins, but all the Belgian press (and others) can see now is what happened at Worlds. Give the guy a break!Lozza01-10-2026
- But even then he carried on working after getting his breath back. Pidcock probably p’d off that it was del Toro who rode down his late attack with Ciccone.Lozza01-10-2026
- Del Toro did a LOT of work riding on the front pulling that group along, with Seixas sat on his wheel. By the time McNulty went he can’t have had much left.Lozza01-10-2026
- Big Pog fan but Mcnulty will not honour the jersey by carrying water bottles. For the older members 1990 Rudy Daelens won the jersey in Japan and never won anything and was a domestic for his team. Pidcock makes a good point about pro teams and working for team mates instead of country.Pidcock knows what he talking about multi world champion and classics winner.paultryan200201-10-2026
- So Pidcock has to wait another year to try to become the 1st Englishman to win Elite World Road Race since Tommy Simpson in 1965 !!!!!!!!!
Senna196001-10-2026 - Angry Pidcock and Matthews claim del Toro helped UAE teammate McNulty claim gold bla bla bla bla bla bla bla ... etc. etc. etc. etc.... The Rainbow Jersey will stay close to Pogi... he won't wear it but McNulty will, but still close. Next year it will be on Pogi's back again. UAE are the "sole owners" of the Rainbow Jersey. Ad acta!!!PogiSloFans01-10-2026
- Shocking really. That any team, never mind an American one, would have that degree of selflessness in their squad. Both Matteo or Quinn would have been equally deserving as champions. And maybe the original plan was teeing it up for them.MavicMoto01-10-2026
- Perhaps Piddy knew Onley didn’t have it but outside of messages getting passed along from the sides of the road, I’m not sure how he would know that without radios. And yes…Quinn finished 4th but (maybe I’m wrong here) before Sunday how many would have thought that he would be head and shoulders above Onley on what was widely considered a climbers course, with riders like VdP (let alone Simmons) only considered to have an outside chance? So my point is that yes, context was considered. Both BMc and Piddy were more-or-less playing the same cards. BMc played it to perfection and won. Piddy came up short. But somehow, according to Piddy, that’s on del Toro for not contributing to the chase at the end…a chase that Piddy might not have been involved with had he played his cards differently, saved his matches and bridged later. I think that is the greater context rather than complaining that del Toro (who was working all day) quit working once his trade teammate went up the road, which should be expected in that scenario.classicsrock01-10-2026
- Perhaps IDT did help, but what I saw was a group of riders that waited 60 seconds before responding to McNulty's acceleration. A whole minute! Really? I said to myself WTF are they thinking? Did physical exhaustion impair their judgement, or was it just chess games? No one wanted to burn their last match? To blame IDT for their lack of response is farcical. If Pidcock and Mathews only took 30 seconds to respond or responded immediately I think McNulty would have been caught.Botch25001-10-2026
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