McNulty’s victory also ended a 33-year wait for the United States. No American had won the elite men’s road race at the World Championships since Lance Armstrong in 1993. Sunday’s race brought the week-long championships in Canada to a close.
Open race after Pogačar’s absence
Even before the start, it was clear that this year’s race could be unusually open. Defending champion Tadej Pogačar was absent following his heavy crash at the Vuelta. That left time trial world champion Remco Evenepoel, Isaac del Toro, Paul Seixas, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert among the leading contenders for gold. Tom Pidcock was also expected to be well suited to the demanding course.
McNulty, by contrast, was regarded more as an outsider. His strong showing was not entirely unexpected, however. The American had won the 2025 Grand Prix de Montréal, finished third in this year’s World Championship tune-up on the same terrain and had placed fourth in the individual time trial a week earlier.
The road race covered 273.4 kilometres and around 3,800 metres of climbing. After the long approach into Montreal, the riders faced twelve laps of the demanding city circuit around Mont Royal. The repeated ascents of Voie Camillien-Houde in particular gradually split the field apart.
Repeated attacks tear the race open
The high pace and constant attacks began to break up the field early on. A large breakaway initially shaped the race before the main contenders’ teams gradually reduced the gap on the finishing circuit. By around 90 kilometres from the line, the decisive phase had begun, with attacks coming in quick succession.
Van der Poel raced particularly aggressively and at one stage moved clear alongside riders including Van Aert and Primož Roglič. Behind them, Del Toro, Seixas, Pidcock and Ben Healy were among those repeatedly trying to establish dangerous groups. With around 35 kilometres remaining, the key chasers came back together.
The United States were in an excellent tactical position at that point. McNulty, Matteo Jorgenson and Quinn Simmons were all represented at the front. Jorgenson attacked first, before McNulty launched the move that would ultimately decide the race.
McNulty’s lead falls to ten seconds
McNulty quickly opened a gap and at one stage pushed his advantage beyond a minute. Behind him, the chase lacked cohesion, while Jorgenson was able to respond to attacks without having to contribute to efforts aimed at bringing back his own teammate.
The final ascent of Mont Royal nevertheless produced late drama. McNulty began to lose significant ground as Pidcock and Giulio Ciccone reduced the gap to just ten seconds. Van der Poel also made another attempt to bridge across shortly afterwards.
But the chasing group never found the cooperation required to put McNulty under decisive pressure. The American recovered once more and eventually reached the finish with a 13-second advantage. Matthews won the sprint for silver ahead of Van der Poel. Del Toro finished fifth, Pidcock seventh and Evenepoel twelfth. Seixas faded to 15th after suffering from cramps, while Van Aert finished 28th.
Evenepoel makes history in the time trial
Evenepoel had already delivered one of the highlights of the championships a week earlier. The Belgian completed the 39.2-kilometre individual time trial in 44 minutes and 53 seconds to become the first rider ever to win four consecutive world titles in the discipline. Filippo Ganna finished second, 57 seconds behind, while 20-year-old Seixas took bronze. In the women’s event, Marlen Reusser successfully defended her time trial title.
Demi Vollering won the women’s road race. The Dutch rider prevailed in the finishing sprint against Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney after 180.1 kilometres to claim her first road world title. Elisa Longo Borghini finished third, four seconds behind.
From an Austrian perspective, Michael Hettegger produced the standout result. The 18-year-old finished fifth in the junior men’s road race and narrowly missed out on the bronze medal in the sprint. In the men’s road race, Felix Großschartner finished 54th, while Felix Gall and Patrick Konrad did not reach the finish.
