Brandon McNulty opened up his time as World Champion this past weekend in Italy with two impressive races at the Giro dell'Emilia and Coppa Agostoni, where he was 10th and second, respectively, but also on the immediate attack in his new rainbow jersey.
He, of course, started as one of the heavy favourites for the former, and did light up the decisive San Luca climb on the third of five ascents, but McNulty was unable to go with the winning move led by Visma-Lease a Bike's Matteo Jorgenson and eventual winner Davide Piganzoli, who played things perfectly in the finale.
As for reasons for not being at your best, though, none can be better than the one McNulty gave on his Instagram, detailing how the superhuman 35km solo effort – which so nearly came unstuck – he put in to claim the rainbow jersey in Montreal was still taking its toll.
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"I enjoyed every single second of my first race in rainbows today," said McNulty. "It’s safe to say I left every single bit of my legs, and probably some pieces of my soul on roads last weekend so I’m still missing a bit, but there’s still a lot of opportunities to come!"
That next opportunity came on the subsequent afternoon in Lissone, and after his UAE team did much of the early work, McNulty found himself off the front in the eventual race-winning move of seven riders with 40km to go.
Six made it into the final sprint after no one was able to get away solo, leaving McNulty to try and get his first win in rainbows from a small group kick. His punch was solid, but not enough to come around Frenchman Paul Lapeira (Decathlon CMA CGM), ending his first weekend as World Champion with a second place.
Still riding the wave of what will become a career-defining victory, McNulty has begun his year-long reign with two impressive performances. Yes, when Tadej Pogačar returns next season and they race together, the US rider will still play second fiddle as a super domestique, but that win in Canada could yet propel him to new heights.
"For sure it is still settling in, with the jersey and everything. [Sunday] was good, I am still a bit fatigued from last week and also [on Saturday] I went super hard. It was a really hard race and I was happy to be there in the final, and then sprints can go one way or the other, so I am happy with the efforts today," said McNulty on UAE's team website.
"It is super special [being the World Champion]. I feel like the races pass faster, I don’t really think about kilometres to go anymore. Hopefully that continues! Perhaps it will wear off and I will go back to suffering, but the last two days have been so special. Everybody has been very supportive and I have had so many people come up to me to congratulate me, so I want to say thank you to everybody."
McNulty will next be in action at Tuesday's Tre Valli Varesine, again taking on the role of leader in Pogačar's absence at these Italian Autumn Classics, before he will likely do the same at the final Monument of the 2026 season on Sunday: Il Lombardia.
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