Is Brandon McNulty’s World Championships win the biggest upset of the century? - Three biggest surprise rainbow jersey winners
Cycling
The World Championships have delivered several conclusions in recent years that defied pre-race forecasts. The latest came in Montreal, where Brandon McNulty claimed the rainbow jersey after attacking with 32 kilometers to go and soloing to the world title.
The American’s triumph marks another break in the recent dominance shown by some of the sport’s biggest names. Tadej Pogacar, absent this year after his crash at La Vuelta, Remco Evenepoel, Mathieu van der Poel, and Julian Alaphilippe, who retired after the last Tour de France, had formed the core of the favorites in recent championships.
A deserved winner in an attritional race, the UAE rider capitalised on hesitancy among the big favourites after the race re-grouped in the kilometres before he set off in a solo pursuit of glory.
McNulty is not, however, the only rider to have ripped up the script in recent seasons. Other Worlds have also crowned unexpected champions and delivered finales where headline favorites watched the rainbow slip from their grasp.
Brandon McNulty seals a historic exhibition win in Montréal © UCI
Rui Costa stuns Valverde and Purito in Florence
One of the most memorable examples came at the 2013 Worlds in Florence. Portugal’s Rui Costa took the title after winning the final showdown against Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodríguez, who settled for silver and bronze respectively.
The race left a particularly bitter taste for Spanish cycling, which had two riders poised to fight for gold in the decisive kilometers. Rui Costa had the last word in that duel and pulled on the rainbow jersey in an edition where Philippe Gilbert, Fabian Cancellara, and Cadel Evans also started among the favorites.
Valverde and Purito stood on the podium, but their medals could not hide Spain’s missed chance at the world title.
Kwiatkowski springs the upset in Ponferrada
A year later, the Worlds in Ponferrada produced another unexpected finish. Michal Kwiatkowski surprised the favorites with a solo attack that opened a decisive gap and carried him to the rainbow jersey.
The Pole had shown top form throughout that season. In 2014 he won the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana, the Volta ao Algarve, and Strade Bianche, finished second at the Tour of the Basque Country, third at La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and second at the Tour of Britain.
Even so, in Ponferrada he outfoxed a group stacked with some of the world’s biggest names. Alejandro Valverde had to settle for bronze, while Philippe Gilbert, Greg Van Avermaet, and Fabian Cancellara, among others, missed out on the title. Kwiatkowski then wore the rainbow jersey throughout the 2015 season.
Michal Kwiatkowski at the 2026 Tour de Pologne
Pedersen prevails in Yorkshire’s agonizing finale
The 2019 Worlds in Yorkshire crowned another rider who ripped up the odds. Mads Pedersen won a razor-thin sprint over Matteo Trentin and Stefan Küng to take the rainbow jersey.
The Dane had already shown he could deliver big results, with second at the 2018 Tour of Flanders and several wins in smaller races. In Yorkshire, though, he faced a lineup led by some of the peloton’s biggest hitters.
Peter Sagan, Alejandro Valverde, Julian Alaphilippe, Mathieu van der Poel, Greg Van Avermaet, and Philippe Gilbert were among the marquee names in that race. Pedersen beat them all and produced one of the most surprising finishes at recent Worlds.
Read also
The 2026 World Championships in Montreal add another name to this list. Brandon McNulty broke the script with a long-range move that proved decisive. The American attacked with 32 kilometers to go and rode away alone to win the world title.
His victory comes in an era defined by dominant favorites such as Tadej Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel, and Mathieu van der Poel. Pogacar could not defend his chances in Montreal after crashing at La Vuelta, while Evenepoel and Van der Poel again topped most pre-race previews.
McNulty’s attack completely reshaped the race and let the American don the rainbow. His win now sits alongside those of Rui Costa, Kwiatkowski, and Pedersen as standout examples from recent years when the Worlds crowned a rider who defied the odds.
Jorge BorregueroWriter
Jorge Borreguero is a journalist with a degree from the Complutense University of Madrid and has been a writer for Cyclinguptodate and Ciclismoaldia since early 2023. In this role, he has played a key part in the evolution of the website, particularly as a specialist covering Movistar Team. He regularly writes race reports, analytical pieces, and in-depth features about the team, and has conducted exclusive interviews and attended multiple team presentations, providing readers with firsthand insights into one of the leading professional cycling squads.
Throughout his career, Jorge has maintained a strong focus on sports journalism, gaining experience across a variety of disciplines, including basketball and football. However, his current work is almost entirely dedicated to cycling, contributing extensively to Ciclismoaldia and its sister website Cyclinguptodate. For these platforms, he combines thorough research with detailed reporting to deliver high-quality content, ranging from race previews and results to expert analysis of teams and riders.
Jorge’s reporting is marked by accuracy, depth, and a commitment to providing readers with reliable and authoritative information. His direct engagement with teams, athletes, and events ensures that his coverage reflects firsthand knowledge and professional insight. Through his work, he has established himself as a trusted voice in professional cycling journalism, bridging the gap between the sport and its global audience while maintaining rigorous editorial standards.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment