Brandon Alexander McNulty (born April 2, 1998) is an American cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam UAE Team Emirates.[4] In the 2016 UCI Junior World Time Trial Championships McNulty became the fourth American junior world champion after Greg LeMond, Jeff Evanshine, and Taylor Phinney, winning the time trial by 35 seconds.[5]
 McNulty at the 2023 Giro d'Italia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Brandon Alexander McNulty | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | April 2, 1998 Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183 cm) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 153 lb (69 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current team | UAE Team Emirates | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Road | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Role | Rider | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rider type | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Amateur teams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Fly Racing | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | Landis–Trek | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | LUX Cycling Development | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Professional teams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Rally Cycling[1][2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020– | UAE Team Emirates[3] | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Major wins | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Grand Tours
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Medal record
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Career
editEarly career
editMcNulty grew up in Phoenix, Arizona and enjoyed riding mountain bikes in his free time. McNulty excelled early, winning almost every mountain bike race he entered while racing in the 11-12 junior categories[citation needed]. McNulty gradually transitioned to road racing. After several wins in local races in Belgium in 2014, McNulty caught the eye of Roy Knickman, manager of LUX cycling. Knickman, realizing McNulty's talent, referred McNulty to coach Barney King. 2015 was a breakout year for McNulty when he won the Valley of the Sun Stage Race TT, averaging 30 mph on a standard road bike. McNulty won the junior national time trial championships that year and went on to compete at the UCI world championships in Richmond.
In 2016, McNulty had even more success, winning the Tour de l'Abitibi and Trofeo Karlsberg, stage races, and the junior national time trial championships for the second year in a row. Then he competed at the UCI Road World Championships and became the fourth American to become a junior world champion after Taylor Phinney, Jeff Evanshine, and Greg LeMond, winning the time trial by 35 seconds.[5]
Professional career
editMcNulty turned professional in 2017, and despite being offered numerous contracts with UCI WorldTeams, he chose to ride with the American UCI Continental team Rally Cycling.[6] He won the under-23 national time trial championships and finished second in the World Championships that year.
In 2018, McNulty continued to ride with Rally Cycling, who upgraded to UCI Professional Continental status that year. McNulty made his UCI World Tour debut in the Tour of California, where he finished fourth on stage 6, the queen stage, and ultimately seventh overall, about three-and-a-half minutes behind winner Egan Bernal. He would head to Europe for the second part of the season, after finishing 3rd overall at Tour Alsace, McNulty would have a string of good results at his first Tour de l'Avenir where he would finish 2nd on a mountain stage to Colombian rider Iván Sosa, demonstrating his ability on the climbs. At the UCI Road World Championships, McNulty would go on to finish 7th in the individual time trial event.
In 2019, McNulty took his first win as a professional at the newly revived Giro di Sicilia in the penultimate stage to Ragusa, thus taking the lead in the general classification. On the following day's stage to Mount Etna, he came fourth, and won the general classification.
His first grand tour participation was in the 2020 Giro d'Italia,[7] in which he finished 15th overall. He rode in the 2021 Tour de France where he supported teammate Tadej Pogačar, who won the race.
McNulty rode in the 2020 Summer Olympics road race in late 2021 and put himself in position to win. Late in the race, with less than 25 miles to go, he was among the surviving group, which would likely contain the winner and with approximately 15 miles to go he attacked. Only Richard Carapaz could go with him and the two of them began to open a gap. For more than 10 miles they stayed ahead of the elite group, but with under 5 miles to go Carapaz got away and rode solo for the gold as McNulty fell back into the elite group where he finished. Despite not medaling his result has only been exceeded once by an American cyclist at the Olympics in the previous 20 years.[8]
McNulty started 2022 off strongly winning a few races and went into Paris-Nice with intentions of a high place in the general classification. His hopes were dashed early in the race as he got caught out in crosswinds, and for all intents and purposes lost any hope of even a top 10 finish.[9] He considered quitting the race, but eventually decided to continue and ended up involved in a breakaway on stage 5. With just under 40 kilometers to go he attacked and no one could follow. He continuously built his lead over the breakaway group and won the stage by nearly two minutes.
He entered the 2022 Tour de France as one of the primary Lieutenants for Pogačar, along with Majka, Soler and Bennett; however all of them were out of the race by the critical final two high mountain stages. On stage 17, which included Col de Val Louron-Azet to Peyragudes, McNulty drove a pace that broke the entire elite GC group with the exception of his team leader Pogačar, and Jonas Vingegaard. He crossed the line 3rd and became the first American to be awarded Most Combative Rider since David Zabriskie, who won the award on a flat stage in 2012.[10]
In May 2023, he took his first win in a Grand Tour, outsprinting Ben Healy and Marco Frigo from a three-man breakaway on stage 15 of the Giro d'Italia.[11] He was crowned the United States National Time Trial Champion a month later, followed up with a fourth place finish at the World Time Trial Championships in August. He ended the year with a second place finish to teammate Marc Hirschi at the Tour de Luxembourg.[12]
McNulty had a strong start to 2024, winning the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana in February, after taking the race lead with his victory on stage four.[13] He next won the stage two time trial in the UAE Tour, but fell out of contention for the overall win on the final day. A week later, he competed in Paris–Nice, where he held the race lead going into the final day, but lost time on the final climb, and ended up third overall, 1 minute and 47 seconds down on compatriot and race winner Matteo Jorgenson.[14] On the final weekend of March, McNulty won the GP Miguel Induráin, beating out Maxim Van Gils to become the first American to win the event.[15] He again displayed prowess as a time trialist, taking the stage three time trial of the Tour de Romandie in late April.
Major results
edit- 2015
- 1st
Time trial, National Junior Road Championships - 1st
Overall Course de la Paix Juniors
- 1st
Points classification - 1st Stage 2a (ITT)
- 1st
- 2nd Overall Tour de l'Abitibi
- 1st
Young rider classification - 1st Stages 1 & 3 (ITT)
- 1st
- 3rd
Time trial, UCI Junior Road World Championships - 4th Overall Driedaagse van Axel
- 1st Young rider classification
- 1st Stage 2 (ITT)
- 1st
- 2016
- 1st
Time trial, UCI Junior Road World Championships - National Junior Road Championships
- 1st Time trial
- 2nd Road race
- 1st
- 1st Overall Tour de l'Abitibi
- 1st Stage 3 (ITT)
- 1st Overall Trofeo Karlsberg
- 1st Stage 2b (ITT)
- 7th Overall Tour du Pays de Vaud
- 1st Stage 2b (ITT)
- 2017
- 1st Time trial, National Under-23 Road Championships
- 2nd
Time trial, UCI Road World Under-23 Championships - 3rd Overall Tour Alsace
- 1st Prologue (TTT)
- 2018
- 2nd Chrono Kristin Armstrong
- 3rd Overall Tour Alsace
- 1st Stage 1 (TTT)
- 5th Overall Volta Internacional Cova da Beira
- 7th Overall Tour of California
- 7th Time trial, UCI Road World Under-23 Championships
- 2019 (2 pro wins)
- 1st
Overall Giro di Sicilia
- 1st Young rider classification
- 1st Stage 3
- 1st
- 2nd Chrono Kristin Armstrong
- 3rd Time trial, UCI Road World Under-23 Championships
- 7th Overall Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- 9th Overall Tour of Oman
- 2020
- 4th Overall Vuelta a San Juan
- 7th Overall Vuelta a Andalucía
- 2021
- 6th Road race, Olympic Games
- 6th Brussels Cycling Classic
- 2022 (3)
- 1st Faun-Ardèche Classic
- 1st Trofeo Calvià
- 1st Stage 5 Paris–Nice
- 2nd Overall Volta ao Algarve
- 2nd Trofeo Pollença–Port d'Andratx
- 4th Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana
Combativity award Stage 17 Tour de France- 2023 (2)
- National Road Championships
- 1st Time trial
- 4th Road race
- 1st
- 1st Stage 15 Giro d'Italia
- 2nd Overall Tour de Luxembourg
- 4th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
- 5th Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana
- 6th Overall Tour de Pologne
- 7th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
- 1st
Young rider classification
- 1st
- 8th Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- 2024 (9)
- 1st Time trial, National Road Championships
- 1st Overall Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana
- 1st Stage 4
- 1st Overall CRO Race
- 1st Stage 3
- 1st GP Miguel Induráin
- Vuelta a España
- 1st Stage 1 (ITT)
- Held &
after Stage 1
- 1st Stage 2 (ITT) UAE Tour
- 1st Stage 3 (ITT) Tour de Romandie
- 3rd Overall Paris–Nice
- 1st Stage 3 (TTT)
- 3rd Trofeo Calvià
- 3rd Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana
- 5th Time trial, Olympic Games
- 5th Overall Tour of the Basque Country
- 7th Trofeo Pollença–Port d'Andratx
- 10th Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
- 10th Clásica de San Sebastián
General classification results timeline
edit| Grand Tour general classification results | |||||||||||||||
| Grand Tour | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Giro d'Italia
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— | — | 15 | — | — | 29 | — | ||||||||
| Tour de France
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— | — | — | 69 | 19 | — | — | ||||||||
| Vuelta a España
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— | — | — | — | 69 | — | 54 | ||||||||
| Major stage race general classification results | |||||||||||||||
| Stage races | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | ||||||||
 Paris–Nice
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— | — | — | DNF | 12 | — | 3 | ||||||||
 Tirreno–Adriatico
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— | — | — | — | — | 12 | — | ||||||||
 Volta a Catalunya
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— | — | NH | 13 | — | — | — | ||||||||
| Tour of the Basque Country
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— | — | 17 | — | 7 | 5 | |||||||||
| Tour de Romandie
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— | — | — | DNF | — | DNF | |||||||||
 Critérium du Dauphiné
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— | — | — | 40 | 11 | — | — | ||||||||
| Tour de Suisse
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— | DNF | NH | — | — | — | — | ||||||||
Major championships results timeline
edit| Event | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Olympic Games
|
Road race | Not held | 6 | Not held | 24 | ||||
| Time trial | 24 | 5 | |||||||
 World Championships
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Road race | — | — | — | DNF | DNF | — | — | 17 |
| Time trial | — | — | — | 29 | 22 | — | 4 | 6 | |
| National Championships
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Road race | DNF | 10 | DNF | NH | — | — | 4 | 2 |
| Time trial | 22 | 6 | 36 | NH | — | — | 1 | 1 | |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
| DSQ | Disqualified |
| NH | Not held |
| IP | In progress |
References
edit- ^ "A mix of old and new for Rally Cycling in 2018". Cyclingnews.com. Immediate Media Company. December 18, 2017. Archived from the original on September 29, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
- ^ Soladay, Tom. "2019 men's and women's rosters". Rally UHC Cycling. Circuit Sport. Archived from the original on January 22, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
- ^ "UAE Team Emirates complete 2020 roster with re-signing of former world champion Rui Costa". Cyclingnews.com. Future plc. October 8, 2019. Archived from the original on November 23, 2019. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
- ^ "UAE Team Emirates". UCI.org. Union Cycliste Internationale. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
- ^ a b "World Championships: McNulty wins junior men time trial". Cycling News. October 12, 2016. Archived from the original on August 13, 2018. Retrieved October 23, 2016.
- ^ Dreier, Fred (June 19, 2017). "Why Brandon McNulty chose to race in the U.S., not Europe". VeloNews.com. Archived from the original on June 19, 2017. Retrieved May 20, 2018.
- ^ "103rd Giro d'Italia: Startlist". ProCyclingStats. Archived from the original on June 24, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
- ^ "Taylor Phinney Disappointed At Just Having Missed a Medal at the 2012". Outside Magazine, Velo News. July 29, 2012. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020.
- ^ "Paris-Nice: Brandon McNulty solos to stage 5 win, Primož Roglič takes race lead". Yahoo! News via Velo News. March 10, 2022. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
- ^ O'Shea, Sadhbh (July 20, 2022). "Tour de France: Brandon McNulty named most aggressive rider after helping Tadej Pogačar to stage win: The American helped pace Tadej Pogačar for most of the final 30 kilometers, setting up the Slovenian for the stage victory". Velo News by Outside Magazine. Archived from the original on July 20, 2022. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
- ^ Ostanek, Daniel (May 21, 2023). "Giro d'Italia: McNulty wins from the break on Lombardia-style stage 15". CyclingNews. Retrieved May 21, 2023.
- ^ "Hirschi wins the Tour de Luxembourg as Johannessen solos to final stage win". CyclingNews. September 24, 2023. Retrieved September 24, 2023.
- ^ Frattini, Kirsten (February 4, 2024). "Brandon McNulty draws on early-season form to win Volta Valenciana". CyclingNews. Future plc. Retrieved February 4, 2024.
- ^ Moultrie, James (March 10, 2024). "Paris-Nice: Jorgenson takes overall victory as Evenepoel wins final stage". CyclingNews. Retrieved March 10, 2024.
- ^ Frattini, Kirsten (March 30, 2024). "Brandon McNulty takes gutsy win at Gran Premio Miguel Indurain 2024". CyclingNews. Retrieved March 30, 2024.
External links
edit
- Brandon McNulty at ProCyclingStats
