How do you make sense of the race that never ends? 273.4km and six and a quarter hours of complete carnage, and it was the USA’s Brandon McNulty who emerged victorious in Montreal in the elite men’s road race at the UCI World Championships, arriving alone at the line after a breathless edition. He surprised the favourites with an opportunistic, powerful 32km solo move to claim his nation’s first elite men’s rainbow jersey since 1993 and the biggest win of his career, celebrating in complete disbelief as he crossed the line.

In what felt like the race of 1000 attacks, the race delivered on its promise of being one of the most open editions in history, with McNulty’s trade teammate and two-time defending champion Tadej Pogačar unable to defend his title due to a crash at the Vuelta. The question of whether it was better without him was answered tenfold.

For 238 of the 273.4km, several breakaways were attempted, but the most crucial moment came with 35km to go, and the USA were the best-represented team, when a lead breakaway quartet spearheaded by Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) was finally caught by a group containing the pre-race favourites of Isaac del Toro (Mexico) and Paul Seixas (France).

12 riders looked set to play out the finale, including the likes of Tom Pidcock (Great Britain), Ben Healy (Ireland) and Primož Roglič (Slovenia) also present, but it was the men from just across the border who took up the initiative, first attacking with Matteo Jorgenson, and then McNulty, who was able to get a gap.

10 seconds quickly became 35, and by the time he crossed what would be the finish line with a 1:03 lead heading into the final two laps, McNulty could start to dream. Fourth in the Worlds time trial a week ago, this became the most important solo effort McNulty would ever make, almost crashing around one of the corners and seeing his gap cut down to just 35 seconds at points.

But just when it seemed like McNulty was going to do it, the absolute thriller delivered another twist, with his gap coming down to just 10 seconds on the final rep up the key Voie Camillien-Houde climb, seemingly cracking on the climb. With Jorgenson marking everyone and defending like a true champion himself, the chasing group was narrowly unable to pull back the daring American attacker, who won by just 13 seconds from Michael Matthews (Australia) in second, and Van der Poel in third.

Speaking after the race, the newly crowned World Champion had this to say: “Honestly I don’t know. Really this is – I don’t know. I’m really at a loss. Until the last 100 metres I really didn’t even believe it I was so tired. I mean, I don’t know, I really don’t know,” said a completely dumfounded McNulty, still not able to take in just what he had managed.

“Absolutely, the last climb up Mont Royal I was doing like zone 2, just dying, but I just kept pushing and I don’t know. We’ve said for weeks now that we have a super strong team and it’s possible. I think we rode cray well, marked everything, had guys ahead, I’m just seriously at a loss for words.

Did he really believe this was possible? “No, I mean we talked about it, I made some jokes to my wife – I knew something could happen, but it would take a miracle, and I guess miracles happened.”

How it unfolded

As the second of two headline events of the World Championships arrived with the men’s elite road race, the tension was palpable in the bunch at the start, with cold and blustery conditions welcoming the 181 starters to Brossard on Sunday.

The speed was high behind the lead car, and as the flag was dropped, the fight for the early breakaway began, with 16 riders eventually getting up the road without much resistance with 167km to go: Tilen Finkšt (Slovenian), Andreas Leknessund (Norway), Felix Engelhardt (Germany), Biniam Girmay, Henok Mulubrhan (both Eritrea), Jamie Meehan (Ireland), Guillaume Boivin (Canada), Emīls Liepiņš (Latvia), Heorhii Antonenko (Ukraine), Mihajlo Stolić (Serbia), Christofer Robín Jurado (Panama), Alexandre Mayer (Mauritius), Iustin-Ioan Văidian (Romania), Andreas Miltiadis (Cyprus), Kaden Hopkins (Bermuda), and Amir Arsalan Ansari (Refugee Cycling Team).

In the peloton behind, the question of which of the favourites’ teams was going to pace was answered by the Netherlands, Belgium, and then Mexico. As the racing settled down on the road leading towards the Montreal circuit laps, the break had already got more than three minutes ahead with 245km to go.
Not much changed for the next 60km, aside from Great Britain also committing riders to the chase, and the pace coming out so much that the break had built a lead of almost eight minutes with 185km to go. The 16 riders in front continued to press on as they approached the entry onto the circuit, where 12 laps would decide the new rainbow jersey.

As the race crossed over the St Lawrence River and reached Montreal, huge crowds met the breakaway on the University climb, with the 16 riders in front maintaining a lead of just over six minutes leading into the last 160km and first of 12 laps around the 13.4km circuit.

After a mix of teams had been swapping turns on the front, Seixas’ France teammates moved to the front, with Bruno Armirail upping the tempo and beginning to cut down the significant deficit with a long pull.

The break understandably started to splinter heading onto the second of 12 laps, with Leknessund pushing on to make it a group of only the strongest riders – Engelhardt, Girmay, Mulubrhan, Liepiņš, and Meegan able to live with him. Armirail’s relentless efforts had reduced their lead to under four minutes with 145km to go.

France weren’t without company on the front, even with Armirail’s seemingly never-ending pull lasting more than 45 kilometres, as the Swiss and Mexican teams also committed riders to the chase. At the end of the third lap, the deficit was down to just over a minute.

The racing heats up on lap five of 12

With 110km to go, the race entered its next phase, with France making an attack through Valentin Paret-Peintre, as Armirail’s incredible effort on the front came to an end after 60km of pacing. Jordan Jegat followed up with a second surge once Paret-Peintre was caught, while the four remaining breakaway riders were all being swallowed up by the shrinking, but simmering peloton.

Several top climbers were already dropping at this point, after almost 170km of racing, notably Vuelta a España champion Enric Mas (Spain), Ben O’Connor (Australia), and Felix Gall (Austria), with the attrition starting to show.

With 100km to go, there was a solo attack launched by one of the green jerseys of Slovenia, not the injured defending champion Tadej Pogačar, but Gal Glivar, whose move prompted a series of other riders to start chancing their arm off the front, including a certain Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands).

As the racing intensified, more accelerations were made by Alberto Bettiol (Italy), and then Anthon Charmig (Denmark), who was able to get some separation, with one of the big favourites Isaac del Toro (Mexico) marshalling things right towards the front of the peloton.

With Charmig out in front on his own, the jerseys of the USA men’s team finally started to show themselves for the first time, Larry Warbasse setting the tempo for Quinn Simmons. Behind them, the big names were all being positioned before the start of the key climb with seven laps to go.

Alex Baudin got France’s plan going again with the next move off the front, with two Italians following him, Giulio Pellizzari and Christian Scaroni, and several others coming across to try and make it into the attack.

It was the latter of the two who kicked on in front, with a new threatening group forming off the front, most notably including Van der Poel, Ben Healy (Ireland), and Maxim Van Gils (Belgium). But it was far from over, with the response being launched out of the peloton behind.

Unsurprisingly in pursuit of the dangerous Dutchman was his eternal rival Wout van Aert (Belgium), riding alongside former trade teammate Primož Roglič (Slovenia), and Oscar Onley (Great Britain), and with 88km to go, they made contact to form a group of 15, however, this new break was not together for long.

Van Aert went straight on the counter after making contact, with Van der Poel of course giving serious chase 87km from the finish. Onley followed the big Dutchman, with Charmig and Roglič also coming across the gap to make it a lead group of five. US rider Simmons was the only other rider to make it across, forming a very threatening new six-man breakaway heading into the last 83.5km.

France and Mexico were trying to salvage the race having lost control in the space of one lap, but the gap was going in the wrong direction as they crossed the line ahead of the final six laps.

The expected response in the bunch came from Del Toro on the next time up the Voie Camillien Houde climb, with the Mexican upping the pace in the saddle. Evenepoel was in his wheel, Seixas, McNulty, and Healy also among the riders following. It wasn’t yet the big explosion, but it did reduce the gap down to 26 seconds with 78km to go.

Del Toro was helped at points by Seixas, reducing the gap down to under 10 seconds, but both of the young stars were isolated, with Evenepoel not pacing, and the two US riders in the chase group, McNulty and Jorgenson, also not pulling with Simmons in front.

Van der Poel makes his move

74.1km from the finish, Van der Poel launched a violent acceleration, dropping Van Aert, Roglič, and Charmig, but Simmons and Onley were able to make it back to his wheel. The other three from the leading six were soon 12 seconds behind, with the top chasing group at 27 seconds down.

Back onto the Voie Camillien-Houde, and suddenly three become four, as Roglič left Van Aert and Charmig behind on the terrain which suited him best.

Italy took up the mantle of chasing, but the gap had ballooned out further to 54 seconds into the last 64km, prompting a new attack from Healy, who was joined in the move by former Trinity teammate Tom Pidcock, who had chased back onto the group after an earlier crash, visibly wounded on his left leg and riding on his spare bike.

With riders all over the road, Del Toro and Seixas made their next move out of the bunch heading into the last 60km, with Evenepoel being the most obvious absentee from all of the attacking, appearing to not be on his best day.

The Pidcock and Healy chasing group was infiltrated by Del Toro, who was keeping the pressure on as, shockingly, both Evenepoel and Van Aert were dropped heading into the final 57km. The former looked to be empty, but the latter did return to the main chase group.

10 riders made up the chasing group into the final four laps: Healy, Pidcock, Seixas, Mikkel Honore (Denmark), Michael Matthews (Australia), Van Aert, Del Toro, Jorgenson, McNulty, and Giulio Ciccone (Italy). They were half a minute down on the leading quartet, but the pace lulled several times as the likes of Healy and Matthews tried to attack solo.

Van der Poel took matters into his own hands with 51.7km to go, on the long climb, with this time only Simmons able to go with him initially, but Roglič also working his way back across.

Behind, the race was exploding again, with Del Toro hitting them with another move, as Seixas followed, but it’s almost as though the climb wasn’t hard enough, with a train of riders constantly in his wheel. As the pace lulled again, Evenepoel was able to return to the second chasing group heading into the final 44km.

At this point – 44km to go – the situation on the road was Van der Poel, Roglič, and Simmons in front, with Onley and Healy around 21 seconds down, and around 14 riders in the main chasing group at 40 seconds, including the likes of Evenepoel, Van Aert, Del Toro, Seixas, Del Toro, Jorgenson, and McNulty.
Out of nowhere, with 44km to go, Evenepoel found the energy to make an attack, but he was quickly shut down by Seixas. Del Toro made a clever counter around one of the corners, forcing Seixas into chasing from the group to reel him back in.

The final three laps

Five hours of epic racing in the legs, and with just under 40km to go, the lead trio went into the final three laps with an 18-second lead on the first chasing duo, with the bigger group still needing to make up 33 seconds.

Back onto the Voie Camillien Houde and Healy made contact with the lead trio, who still had half a minute on the chasing group, with Onley dropping back. Behind, Del Toro was pushing on again to try and close the gap, with Van Aert completely dropped and Evenepoel struggling to follow again. Healy tried to hit the leaders with an instant attack, but he was quickly chased by Simmons.

Finally, with 35km to go, though, the front of the race came back together, with the first chase group making contact with the four leaders. Of the 12 riders, nine were without teammates, but the USA had three riders present and a huge numeric advantage.

It shouldn’t be surprising then, that it was Jorgenson who made the next move, Ciccone, Pidcock and Matthews trying to follow him. Del Toro shut this down as the selection continued and more and more riders started to struggle under the pressure.

Former GP Montreal winner McNulty made the next move for the USA with 32km to go, and he was able to get ahead as Jorgenson marked the response from Matthews. What was 10 seconds soon became 33 seconds with 28.5km to go, as the US rider flew away, and the pace came completely out of the chasing group.

Despite almost crashing at high speed around one of the corners heading towards the line, McNulty crossed the line heading into the final two laps with a massive lead of 1:07. Was it all over? It certainly looked like it.

The penultimate lap of Camillien Houde brought an attack from Pidcock, but it was going to take a real miracle to bring back the charging American. Almost everyone was starting to pay for their earlier efforts at this point, with Del Toro, Van der Poel, and Seixas all beginning to struggle, and Jorgenson marking the moves.

Still, Pidcock and Seixas tried to push on from the front chasing group, cutting the massive gap down to 37 seconds, as the weather threatened to close in, with only Ciccone, Van der Poel, Matthews, Del Toro, Healy, and Jorgenson also able to follow.

After 255km of racing, strange things were happening as Jorgenson’s constant presence again saw the gap go back out to just under a minute, with Evenepoel returning.

After the next wave of attacks, Evenepoel even mounted a counter move just before taking the bell for the final lap. This move cut McNulty’s lead down to just 52 seconds with one final lap to go.

A breathless final run to the line

Just when it seemed like it was over, though, McNulty faced his biggest challenge yet as his legs started to fail him on the final lap up the Camillien Houde climb, with Pidcock and Ciccone launching a final charge from the group behind.

The gap was cut down to 30 seconds, but by the top, the situation was much worse for the US rider, down to just 10 seconds with his stars and stripes jersey in view of the chasers. But the pace came out and no-one wanted to commit to bringing back that final gap – or they simply didn’t have the legs.

Van der Poel launched a final bid with 7km to go on the University climb, where he had attacked previously, but the great constant which supported McNulty’s effort, Jorgenson, was still on his wheel, prompting him to pull up his effort at the top and allow the lone leader to build his lead again.

More attempts came from Schmid, Pidcock, Healy and Del Toro, but none could shake Jorgenson, nor really cut into the lead of the lone leader as they had done on the main climb. He was going to do it, coming around the final corner with enough of a lead to know that the World Championships was about to be his. Even still he didn’t believe it as he came across the line, celebrating with his teammates and UAE Team Emirates-XRG owners. Unsurprisingly, it was pure shock and emotion painted all over his face, as he won one of the most memorable Worlds road races of all time.

Results

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