{"id":2170073,"date":"2026-09-28T18:02:48","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T15:02:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2170073"},"modified":"2026-09-28T18:02:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T15:02:48","slug":"mcnultys-rainbow-jersey-was-no-miracle-it-was-a-decade-in-the-making-for-usa-cycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2170073","title":{"rendered":"McNulty’s Rainbow Jersey Was No Miracle\u2014It Was a Decade in the Making for USA Cycling"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2297437002-1-scaled-e1790553463168.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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Updated September 28, 2026 01:06PM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

When Brandon McNulty rolled across the line to win the 2026 UCI Road World Championships, it marked the end of a journey. Over the past decade, the United States men\u2019s riders have been building momentum.<\/p>\n

It started slowly at first, with promising results like McNulty winning bronze in the junior time trial at Richmond in 2015, and then accelerated with Quinn Simmons\u2019 junior worlds road race title in 2019, Sepp Kuss winning the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a in 2023 and Matteo Jorgenson taking back to back titles at Paris-Nice in 2024 and 2025.<\/p>\n

Yet, the rainbow jersey that McNulty will take into 2027 is a whole different milestone. The U.S\u2019s last men\u2019s elite world championship was 33 years ago, when 21-year-old Lance Armstrong won in Oslo. The only other American man to wear the rainbow jersey before that was Greg LeMond.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019ve been in the USAC organization since I was 16 years old,\u201d McNulty said after the race. \u201cI was a child when I first met a lot of the people that are still involved in the organization. I\u2019ve been to almost every World Championships since then.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to win the TT as a junior at the 2016 worlds, and then Quinn Simmons won the junior road race a few years later, so there\u2019s been success. But I think the men\u2019s road race has always been the dream for everyone in the organization. It\u2019s super special to do with people that I\u2019ve known since I was really a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n

McNulty\u2019s Worlds win has been over a decade in the making<\/h2>\n
\"CYCLING
(Photo: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

McNulty is the leader of this generation that has elevated American cycling to near the top of the world rankings. While Sepp Kuss and Neilson Powless are both older and winners on the WorldTour level, McNulty was so talented as a junior that he became a model for what Americans could do starting at this younger level.<\/p>\n

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Both Kuss and Powless really found their success at cycling\u2019s top level gradually as established professionals rather than from the jump as development projects. McNulty was different. At just 17, he was not only already racing in Europe, but he was also strong enough of a time trialist to set a course record at pro-level races in the United States\u2014on junior gears. He was about as hyped as a junior cyclist could be.<\/p>\n

It was during those junior years that the rest of the core of this generation also started to elevate their level. Matteo Jorgenson, who is a year younger than McNulty, is a key example of this.<\/p>\n

When they raced in America, the two were rivals, as McNulty was the best rider on the Lux Cycling Team and Jorgenson was the top rider at Hot Tubes. Yet, in the summer, the two would come together for long European race blocks where they learned to race together as much as they competed against one another.<\/p>\n

\"Cycling:
A 17-year-old McNulty in Richmond during the 2015 UCI World Championships. (Photo: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI started racing with USA Cycling in Belgium when I was 16, just doing Kermesses for three weeks,\u201d McNulty said of his time in the junior ranks. \u201cAt the time, it was a dream to be a pro, but you have no idea what that would have meant.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI found success which, at the time, felt huge. Winning in Europe as an American felt crazy, so that confidence was the foundation. It\u2019s special because Matteo [Jorgenson] was also on that trip. To know we\u2019ve been doing this together for that long\u2026it\u2019s cool to grow up like that all together.\u201d<\/p>\n

That dynamic, the very friendly rivalry, started what effectively became a chain of talent. The mix of the US Junior National Team and the two dominant junior teams kept putting the most talented riders in scenarios of competition and collaboration. It was McNulty racing Jorgenson; then it was Jorgenson racing Sean Quinn, Kevin Vermaerke, and Riley Sheehan; and so on and so forth. That chain extends all the way to Ashlin Barry, who managed to do something that McNulty, Jorgenson, or Simmons couldn\u2019t when he won America\u2019s first U23 World Championship on Friday.<\/p>\n

A chain of development success that runs from McNulty to Barry<\/h2>\n
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Jorgenson and McNulty celebrate the world championship win. (Photo by Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Altogether, it was that collective energy that built through the years that cemented the victory in Montreal. It was the interwoven story of those riders working to make the big junior teams, to beat out other juniors for the national team race blocks, and to work together to challenge European talent on their home turf. All of that set the table for the team performance that was remarkably cohesive for a national team performance.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think those guys were really lucky that in their junior and under-23 careers they got to be a part of those teams,\u201d Michael Creed, the DS for the US team, told Velo <\/i>about the power of the development structure that the US team created. \u201cI run a devo team, so I know and appreciate what they do, because I know how hard it can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Creed, that challenge\u2014that grind\u2014could have a direct relationship to the way they raced together when it mattered most.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey raced like the US has won the world championship a lot of times, but maybe they raced that way because they knew how rare it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the United States has always had riders capable of a top result in certain races. Before this generation, there was a strong cohort of riders like Tejay van Garderen, Ian Boswell, Ben King, and Taylor Phinney.<\/p>\n

Yet, even with their success, having three Americans in the top 10 at Worlds, let alone winning the race, has never happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a fundamental change in the psyche of American cyclists,\u201d Boswell told Velo <\/i>after the race. \u201cMy generation was very influenced by the previous generation. Almost every rider was a kind of GC type stage racer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s all what we wanted to be because that\u2019s what we saw ahead of us. This generation hasn\u2019t put themselves in that same box.\u201d<\/p>\n

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For riders like Boswell, the inspiration was the likes of Lance Armstrong, Tyler Hamilton, and Levi Leipheimer. With that kind of legacy, and with the reckoning from the fallout of that generation\u2019s doping hitting home after those riders already were well on their way to professional careers, that line of thinking makes sense.<\/p>\n

Yet, with McNulty and Matteo Jorgenson, Armstrong\u2019s 2012 confession happened well before they had any conception of what type of pro rider they wanted to be. In one way, that kind of revelation can be devastating. But it also can be freeing. Whatever this generation of riders were going to do, there was no expectation of what that would look like as the bottom fell out of the US cycling structure.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou do see some of them who are GC riders like Matteo, but they are also classic riders,\u201d Boswell said. \u201cYou even have someone like Riley [Sheehan] going after the sprints. For whatever reason, this younger generation hasn\u2019t put limiters or governors on what they should be. They\u2019ve actually identified their ability and riding style that best suits their physiology. I think there\u2019s such a fundamental change from what I was racing to now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Racing with confidence earned from building their own path<\/h2>\n
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(Photo: Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What the whole American team demonstrated at the 2026 world championship was not only the fruition of that new belief, but also the validation that the United States is capable of producing some of the best road racers in the world.<\/p>\n

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Even with an ocean separating young riders from the best development racing in the world, good talent can shine through, especially when the right group of riders is put in the right position. Nobody knows this as much as the riders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt means the world, literally,\u201d Riley Sheehan told Velo <\/i>after the race. \u201cWe\u2019ve all raced with each other since juniors, we all know each other so well, and we know we have all put everything into this race. It\u2019s incredible to have a guy like Brandon win, I couldn\u2019t be happier.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Sheehan, this opportunity to race Worlds meant even more because he had to fight for it. Initially, he was left off the selection and had to push to be included. Why? Because he believed this win was possible with this group.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI really put in so much this year, and I knew I could be a big support for this team. I love this race, and this course is incredible. I saw that we have a winning team, and I wanted to be a part of this. It meant everything. We have the Olympics in the U.S. as our next big thing. It\u2019s onwards and upwards\u2014let\u2019s keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Who can say how long this success will last or what future success could look like? On one hand, McNulty was the second-oldest rider on Team USA, and he is only 27. On the other hand, Lux folded up shop a few years ago, and the opportunities for juniors to race are fewer and far between.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Montreal will not be the end for these riders. This generation of Americans aren\u2019t the underdogs anymore; they are part of the gold standard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Updated September 28, 2026 01:06PM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/usa-cycling-golden-generation-hits-its-peak\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2297437002-1-scaled-e1790553463168.jpg”] Updated September 28, 2026 01:06PM When Brandon McNulty rolled across the line to win the 2026 UCI Road World Championships, it marked the end of a journey. Over the past decade, the United States men\u2019s riders have been building momentum. It started slowly at first, with promising results like McNulty winning bronze […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2170073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2170073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2170073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2170073\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2170073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2170073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2170073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}