"Ninth place is something I am proud of" - Brandon McNulty takes pride in his Giro d'Italia performance
Cycling
Brandon McNulty was one of the many strong climbers in the selection of UAE Team Emirates - XRG for the Giro d'Italia. A team that came with the highest ambitions but left empty-handed. Well, not entirely, but the second place of Isaac del Toro will be a bittersweet result for the superteam. McNulty himself took a 9th place, his best Grand Tour result to the day.
"Another Giro in the books," he writes in a story on his Instagram after the three weeks. "It was truly such a pleasure to ride for Isaac and give everything to defend his pink jersey. In the end, we didn’t win but I know that Isaac will be back! Thank you for such an amazing 21 days."
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"On the personal side, I am super proud of this Giro. For the first time in my career I felt I could be somewhat useful over the entire 3 weeks. I came here not thinking about my personal GC at all and just tried to be as close to our leaders as possible because we had such a strong team, so to finish 9th is something I am proud of."
"Of course we all grow up wanting to be grand tour winners, and world champions but you quickly realize that those accomplishments are few and far between, but finishing in the top 10 in any grand tour was one small goal I had for my career that I really never thought I’d be able to achieve."
"While I’m under no illusion that I was the 9th best rider to start this race, there’s so much luck involved in a three week race and I’m thankful to have made it through with only a few stitches and bruises," he concludes, noting that favourites such as Primoz Roglic or his teammate Juan Ayuso were forced to abandon throughout the race.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- POG1, another nice doc about our favourite, I watched most of it with a big smile on my face (except for the bits about his crashes 😢 obvs!).Lozza14-11-2026
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- guess what Valgren, you're 34, and no you're not good enough. sorry to say.mij14-11-2026
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- enough time? he's 24 years old. He's won 10 races over the last 2 years and some are significant. I won't argue about his attitude being good - it needs to improve. But with some coaching and mentorship he has a lot of winning ahead of him and has plenty of time to win a GT. I don't think he will ever beat Tadej, but everyone else is fair game Look at Mas and Valverde - they were 31 and 29, respectively, when they won the Vuelta.mij14-11-2026
- Pogacar has a fine head on his shoulders.Careful investments and a couple of coffee shops sounds like a wonderful way to chill after an intense career.Stay healthy GOAT.
Brucegel14-11-2026 - I live in Maribor.PogiSloFans14-11-2026
- I live in Ljubljana and often go on trips in the surrounding area, where I frequently see young cyclists in 'Pogi Team' jerseys training, either alone or in groups. By simply motivating so many young people to take up cycling, Tadej has already achieved something truly significant.Velijo14-11-2026
- That's an excellent point. It's interesting that Vader came to that realization only after he learned that his contract wasn't going to be renewed.
santiagobenites14-11-2026
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