“It’s going to be extremely uncool seeing him third-last in the UAE train with pockets full of water bottles” - Michael Rasmussen fears rainbow jersey humiliation for Brandon McNulty
Cycling
Brandon McNulty will spend the next year wearing one of the most recognisable jerseys in cycling. Michael Rasmussen is already wondering how that will look once the new world champion returns to a UAE Team Emirates - XRG squad still built around Tadej Pogacar and, increasingly, Isaac del Toro.
McNulty chose his moment perfectly in Montreal, attacked clear with around 30 kilometres remaining and held on for the biggest victory of his career. The rainbow jersey joins a palmares which already included GP Montreal, the Tour de Pologne and stage victories at both the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana.
Rasmussen knows plenty about the status that comes with a distinctive jersey. The Danish ex-pro won four Tour de France stages and twice took home the polka-dot mountains jersey during his road career, before later moving into television punditry.
What he cannot picture quite so easily is McNulty wearing the rainbow bands while performing the sort of support work that has long been part of his job at UAE.
“It’s going to be extremely uncool seeing him in the world champion’s jersey sitting third-last in the UAE train with his pockets full of water bottles, then pulling off when the two stars are about to start racing for the win,” Rasmussen said on Viaplay Sport News.
McNulty played a key support role in Pogacar's Tour de Suisse win earlier this year
A world champion inside UAE’s already stacked hierarchy
McNulty has spent much of his UAE career moving between leadership opportunities and some of the least glamorous jobs in the team. Give him freedom and he has repeatedly shown he can win. Put Pogacar alongside him at one of the biggest races on the calendar and the American has also been trusted to control, chase and empty himself before the Slovenian takes over, something he has repeatedly done to a high standard.
The difference now is that every one of those kilometres will be ridden in the rainbow jersey. “It almost gives me an upset stomach,” Rasmussen assesses of the situation.
McNulty’s record was already far beyond that of a conventional domestique before Montreal. He won the Tour de Pologne overall in 2025 and, on the same Canadian roads where he has now become world champion, took GP Montreal ahead of Pogacar last year.
UAE’s depth means none of that guarantees him top billing whenever the biggest names come together, in fact quite the opposite. Pogacar remains the undisputed defining rider of the team, while Del Toro’s rise has given UAE another genuine contender capable of arriving at the largest races expecting to win. So what room in the already stacked hierarchy is there for a world champion?
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Finding room for the rainbow jersey
The more obvious solution is in McNulty’s programme. UAE can give him his own targets without having to rewrite their hierarchy at races built around Pogacar or Del Toro, and Rasmussen expects those opportunities to become particularly important over the next year.
“If he’s lucky, they’ll give him a team where he can see whether he can win the Tour de Pologne in the world champion’s jersey, but otherwise it’s going to be a bit bizarre,” he said. “It’s a very big responsibility that has landed on his shoulders.”
McNulty now has the strongest argument of his career for more leadership, while UAE have their own incentive to put the rainbow jersey in positions where it can actually compete for victories. Whether these two goals can coexist remains to be seen.
Pogacar is hardly going to surrender leadership at his biggest objectives because one of his teammates won the World Championships, and Del Toro’s emergence only gives UAE another rider around whom major race plans can be built, without even taking into account the likes of Joao Almeida and Adam Yates. With that backdrop, Rasmussen’s bottle-carrying image becomes difficult to avoid.
McNulty has just won the biggest one-day race of his career, but the jersey itself does not suddenly erase the team structure he returns to. Montreal proved what happens when McNulty gets a chance and takes it. The next twelve months will show how often UAE are prepared to give their world champion another one.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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