Brandon McNulty wins 2026 elite men’s road race world title in Montréal

Brandon McNulty won the 2026 elite men’s road race world title in Montréal after attacking with 33 kilometres remaining and holding off a fragmented chase all the way to the finish. The American completed the race in 6:17:04, with Michael Matthews taking silver 13 seconds later and Mathieu van der Poel third on the same time.

The victory ended a 33-year wait for a United States winner of the elite men’s road race world title. McNulty had already shown how well the Montréal circuit suited him, winning the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal in 2025 and finishing third there earlier this month, but this time he converted that familiarity into the biggest one-day win of his career.

How it unfolded

The race began aggressively and never really settled. An early five-rider move was followed by repeated attacks, and by 267 kilometres to go a 17-rider group had opened a small gap. The break gradually established itself as the peloton settled into a long chase, with Belgium, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Mexico among the nations contributing to the work behind.

By 228 kilometres to go the gap had stretched beyond four minutes, and it remained around that mark deep into the middle section of the race. France became increasingly visible at the front of the peloton, with Bruno Armirail doing extended work as the field reached the repeated climbing on the Montréal circuit. The attrition was already beginning to show as riders were dropped on the Voie Camillien-Houde and the long list of contenders was steadily reduced.

The front of the race started to change more sharply inside the final 110 kilometres. Valentin Paret-Peintre attacked for France with 107 kilometres remaining, followed soon afterwards by Jordan Jegat. A series of accelerations then split the race into several groups, while riders including Ben O’Connor and Laurence Pithie lost contact as the pace increased.

At 92 kilometres to go, seven riders including Alex Baudin, Maxim Van Gils and Ben Healy opened a small advantage. Wout van Aert then attacked from the front group with 87 kilometres remaining, forming a three-rider move with Oscar Onley and Mathieu van der Poel. Their advantage reached roughly 350 metres as the race entered a much more selective phase.

Isaac del Toro accelerated from the peloton with 79 kilometres to go, while Tom Pidcock was involved in a crash shortly afterwards. Pidcock was able to remain in the race and returned to the contest, but the repeated moves meant there was no single organised chase. Van der Poel attacked again with 74 kilometres remaining, while Primož Roglič accelerated from the first chase group a little later.

With 63 kilometres left, Healy and Pidcock attacked from the second chase group, and a kilometre later Pidcock, Healy and Matteo Jorgenson had opened a small gap. Del Toro continued to attack from behind, while Van Aert began to lose ground. The race had become a sequence of short-lived groups, with the strongest riders repeatedly trying to force a decisive selection.

Healy, Giulio Ciccone, Van der Poel, Del Toro, Matthews and Remco Evenepoel all made moves between 57 and 43 kilometres to go. None could create enough separation to settle the race, but the constant attacking stripped away support riders and left the strongest contenders exposed.

Photo Credit: Getty

McNulty makes the decisive move

The decisive attack came with 33 kilometres remaining. McNulty accelerated from the front of the race and quickly opened a small gap. Unlike many of the earlier moves, this one was not immediately closed, and the American settled into a sustained effort while the chase behind continued to attack rather than organise.

Pidcock was particularly active in the first chase group, accelerating several times between 26 and 16 kilometres to go. Del Toro was dropped at one point before later returning to the contest, while Van der Poel and Evenepoel both tried to force new selections. Ciccone and Pidcock also managed to create a small gap with around 12 kilometres remaining, but McNulty was still clear.

The numbers behind him kept changing. Healy attacked with 7.8 kilometres to go, while the gap from McNulty to the first chase group was still around 160 metres shortly afterwards. Van der Poel attacked again at 6.6 kilometres, Mauro Schmid tried his luck inside the final six kilometres and Pidcock launched another move almost immediately after.

None of those attacks produced a coordinated pursuit. Mads Pedersen was still pulling with 3.7 kilometres remaining and Del Toro accelerated again, but McNulty had enough in hand to reach the finish alone. His winning margin was 13 seconds.

Matthews takes silver as Van der Poel finishes third

Behind McNulty, the chase came back together enough for the minor medals to be decided from a reduced group. Matthews was quickest to the line for Australia, taking silver at 13 seconds, with Van der Poel third on the same time. Quinn Simmons finished fourth to underline the strength of the American performance, while Del Toro took fifth at 14 seconds.

Pidcock finished sixth, with Pedersen seventh, Jorgenson eighth, Ciccone ninth and Healy completing the top 10. The United States placed three riders in the first eight, with McNulty winning, Simmons fourth and Jorgenson eighth, after entering the race with one of its deepest elite men’s teams in years.

McNulty’s success was built on timing as much as strength. The attacks from Van Aert, Van der Poel, Del Toro, Healy, Pidcock and others had already broken the race apart before he moved, and once he was clear the remaining contenders never managed to establish a sustained chase. The final 33 kilometres became a test of whether McNulty could maintain his advantage while the riders behind continued to attack one another.

2026 World Championships Men’s Elite Road Race Result