'I still feel like I'm just a young kid' – Maturing Brandon McNulty leads US contingent at Giro d'Italia

When the Giro d’Italia gets underway this Friday, many eyes will be on UAE Team Emirates-XRG. They may be without 2024 champion Tadej Pogačar, but Juan Ayuso is leading the way as one of the top favourites for the pink jersey and with a slew of other top-tier riders among the eight UAE men, there are many storylines ready to develop.

One of those storylines, which is perhaps going under the radar, is this: what will the team do with Brandon McNulty? 

The American will be starting his third Giro and heads into the race as a winner of stages in the Giro and Vuelta a España, multiple stage race GC titles, and a junior time trial world championship. 

Of the three US riders starting the Giro – the other two being Larry Warbasse (Tudor Pro Cycling) and Luke Lamperti (Soudal-QuickStep) – McNulty is by far the most successful at the highest level, but will likely fit into a support role in Italy.

From his days as a prolific winner in the junior ranks, to consistent progress as a professional, McNulty has the profile of someone who should be discussed more, and perhaps even lead a team, but instead he'll start this Giro with a lowkey presence.

Part of this is almost by design. A big success on the bike, McNulty is a hard man to pin down off it and outside of racing. Often, it is because he is literally an ocean away from the journalists who would be hoping to speak to him. 

This was the case this winter when Cyclingnews caught up with the American near his home on the outskirts of Phoenix, Arizona. In Europe at that time, his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates were at team camp, facing various questions from journalists around the world. McNulty was, however, on the other side of the Atlantic, sitting with just one journalist in the shadow of a shopping mall. 

What was clear as soon as McNulty sat down was that the American was infinitely more comfortable with the latter when it comes to interacting with the media.

"When it's only about cycling, training and everything – I don’t know," McNulty told Cyclingnews about his tendency to shy away from frequent interviews. "We're all real people as well. My wife and I are somewhat private, but we also like to put things out there that are human, like the funny things that we do."

In the context of the moment, the real life of McNulty and his wife was a pressing concern for the pair. They had just bought a new house up the hill from the shopping mall in Cave Creek. A house move was looming. And McNulty was balancing all of it with the 30-hour training workload that is unavoidable in December and January. 

Moving and homemaking aside, the story of McNulty is far from the norm of those Americans sitting around him. McNulty has slowly, methodically become one of the best cyclists in the world. Come Friday, when McNulty lines up for the Giro d’Italia’s Grande Partenza in Albania, he will once again be part of one of the top teams on paper. 

Yet for fans in the US and around the world, so much seems unknown about McNulty beyond his exploits you see on TV, even though he is a leading light of the best crop of American riders since Lance Armstrong.

"It's kind of weird to think that because I don't know. I feel like I'm still young, but I guess I am one of the oldest now," he said. "I guess Sepp [Kuss] is our true leader, and then I'm there, but I still feel like I'm just a young kid, kind of."

While McNulty might feel like a kid, the Giro this year shows just how quickly those tables are turning on the American who turned 27 in April. Instead of being a part of the endless cavalcade of youth recruits, McNulty is now a fixture of the old guard. 

Of the eight riders starting the Giro for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, McNulty is in the older cohort along with Jay Vine, 29, Adam Yates, 32, and Rafal Majka, 35. They are opposite the likes of Isaac Del Toro, 21, Igor Arrieta, 22, Juan Ayuso, 22, and Filippo Baroncini, 24. 

Even as he matures, there is still a sense of the unknown around McNulty's potential – how far he can go, what kind of wins he can achieve. 

"Brandon is an amazing rider," Joxean Fernández Matxin, sport manager at UAE, told Cyclingnews in the lead up to the Giro. "He has the capacity to win and the capacity to be one of the best teammates."

But despite his clear successes and strengths – WorldTour time trial wins, a Giro stage, and a centre stage performance at the 2022 Tour that had him as the last teammate climbing with Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaard – McNulty won't have pressure on his shoulders at the Giro. Instead, his versatility will be put to use, with plenty of chances across the medium mountain stages and two time trials on the route. 

"He can be great 365 days a year across the sprints, mountains, and time trials," Matxin said. "In years past, he has gone to the Giro for the general classification, and he hit his capacity. This year is about enjoying cycling and having less pressure."

Calm and consistency the key to growth for McNulty

This push and pull between the undeniable talent of McNulty and his lowkey character has made him something of an enigma. But, in a roundabout way, it also has become his superpower. In the face of it all, McNulty has increasingly stuck to what he knows, and it has, in turn, sharpened his skills every year, both physically and mentally. 

"When I was a younger rider, I went to some camps, and when you don't know better, you compare yourself," McNulty said. "I’ve learned, especially recently, that consistency is something I need – it's just the way I operate. 

"Being comfortable kind of leads to where I perform the best. When I find something that works and it's comfortable, it's easy for me to continue growing, versus how some people like new things and discomfort. I like to feel at home, within that comfortable environment, where you can do the things you need to create change"

After the end of McNulty’s Arizona winter, the only real consistency around his season has been racing – and even that has been scattered across different countries, race types, and objectives. All of this, however, was a part of his plan to keep stretching his capacity. 

"Last year was the best year I've ever had," McNulty said. "But I think it was almost going from a breakout result of the Giro kind of thing, to cementing that I can be consistent over the whole year, even if it's not a win or podium or whatnot, but just at least showing myself I can be at a good level from January to October."

On paper, 2025 has started as a bit of a step back from his 2024 season, with no wins on the scoresheet just yet. However, read between the lines and his performance trajectory, and the arrow is pointing firmly towards a big showing at the Giro. 

A strong start to the season was derailed by an illness that took him out of the back half of Paris-Nice and scratched him from Milan-San Remo. That trend was bucked in the Ardennes, where he was Pogačar’s key domestique in Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallone, and his good form looks to continue into May with the Giro. 

Ultimately, the biggest deciding factor in McNulty’s success at the Giro might be from within his own team. With both Juan Ayuso and Adam Yates heading into the race as bona fide general classification contenders, McNulty could be used as a domestique de luxe to lock the race down as he did in the Ardennes, rather than going for his own results. 

Or, if everything goes to plan, UAE might be able to have its cake and eat it too. In that scenario, McNulty might have another chance to demonstrate just how unreal of a rider he can be. 

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