Brandon Alexander McNulty (born April 2, 1998) is an American cyclist who rides for

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road cycling, the UCI World Tour or UCI ProTour ...

. In the 2016 UCI Junior World Time Trial Championships McNulty became the fourth American junior world champion after

Greg LeMond Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former professional road racing cyclist, entrepreneur, and anti-doping advocate. A two-time winner of the Road Race World Championship (1983 and 1989) and a three-time winner of the Tou ...

, Jeff Evanshine, and

Taylor Phinney Taylor Carpenter-Phinney (born June 27, 1990) is an American retired professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2019 for the , and teams. Phinney specialized in time trials on the road as well as the individual p ...

, winning the time trial by 35 seconds.

Career

Early career

McNulty grew up in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

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. 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 The UCI world championships are annual competitions promoted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to determine world champion cyclists. They are held in several different styles of racing, in a different country each year. Championship winne ...

in Richmond. In 2016, McNulty had even more success, winning the

Tour de l'Abitibi The ''Tour de l'Abitibi'' is a junior bicycle stage race taking place in the Abitibi-Témiscamingue region of Quebec, Canada. The race was first held in 1969 and had only Canadian teams. It has since become an international competition part of ...

and Trofeo Karlsberg,

stage race A race stage, leg, or heat is a unit of a race that has been divided in several parts for the reason such as length of the distance to be covered, as in a multi-day event. Usually, such a race consists of "ordinary" stages, but sometimes stages ...

s, and the junior national time trial championships for the second year in a row. Then he competed at the

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

and became the fourth American to become a junior world champion after

, Jeff Evanshine, and

, winning the

time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

by 35 seconds.

Professional career

McNulty turned professional in 2017, and despite being offered numerous contracts with

s, he chose to ride with the American

UCI Continental The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to expand cycling around the world. The five circuits (representing the continents of Africa, the ...

team . He won the under-23 national time trial championships and finished second in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

that year. In 2018, McNulty continued to ride with , who upgraded to UCI Professional Continental status that year. McNulty made his

UCI World Tour The UCI WorldTour (2009–2010: ''UCI World Ranking'') is the premier men's elite road cycling tour, sitting above the UCI ProSeries and various regional UCI Continental Circuits. It refers to both the tour of 38 events and, until 2019, an annual ...

debut in the

Tour of California The Tour of California (officially sponsored as the Amgen Tour of California) was an annual professional road bicycle racing, road cycling stage race on the UCI World Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that ran from 2006 to 2019. It was the ...

, where he finished fourth on stage 6, the queen stage, and ultimately seventh overall, about three-and-a-half minutes behind winner

Egan Bernal Egan Arley Bernal Gómez (born 13 January 1997) is a Colombian cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . In 2019 he won the Tour de France, becoming the first Latin American rider to do so, and the youngest winner since 1909. At the 2021 Giro d'It ...

. He would head to Europe for the second part of the season, after finishing 3rd overall at

Tour Alsace The Tour Alsace (or Tour d'Alsace) is a 6-day road bicycle race held annually in Alsace, France. It was first held in 2004 and it is a 2.2 rated event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing Roa ...

, McNulty would have a string of good results at his first

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir ( en, Tour of the Future) is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independents ...

where he would finish 2nd on a mountain stage to Colombian rider

Iván Sosa Iván Ramiro Sosa Cuervo (born 31 October 1997) is a Colombian cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Career Early life and amateur career Sosa was born into a farming family in Pasca, Cundinamarca, a town located at high altitude in ...

, demonstrating his ability on the climbs. At the

, 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 Giro di Sicilia (English: Tour of Sicily) is a men's multi-stage bicycle race held on Sicily, Italy. The race was first held in 1907 and was won by Carlo Galetti. The race disappeared from the calendar after the 1977 edition won by Giuseppe Saron ...

in the penultimate stage to

Ragusa Ragusa is the historical name of Dubrovnik. It may also refer to: Places Croatia * the Republic of Ragusa (or Republic of Dubrovnik), the maritime city-state of Ragusa * Cavtat (historically ' in Italian), a town in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Cro ...

, thus taking the lead in the general classification. On the following day's stage to

Mount Etna Mount Etna, or simply Etna ( it, Etna or ; scn, Muncibbeḍḍu or ; la, Aetna; grc, Αἴτνα and ), is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily, Italy, in the Metropolitan City of Catania, between the cities of Messina a ...

, he came fourth, and won the general classification. His first grand tour participation was in the 2020 Giro d'Italia, in which he finished 15th overall. He rode in the

2021 Tour de France The 2021 Tour de France was the 108th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three grand tours. Originally planned for the Danish capital of Copenhagen, the start of the 2021 Tour (known as the ) was transferred to Brest because of the ...

where he supported teammate

Tadej Pogačar Tadej Pogačar (; born 21 September 1998) is a Slovenian cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . He won the 2020 and 2021 editions of the Tour de France, winning three different jerseys during each Tour, a feat unseen in nearly four deca ...

, who won the race. McNulty rode in the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

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 Richard Antonio Carapaz Montenegro (born 29 May 1993) is an Ecuadorian professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Carapaz won the 2019 Giro d'Italia, becoming the first Ecuadorian rider to win the race. In July 2021 ...

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. 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. 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 A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

for Pogačar, along with

Majka Majka, Slavic-language feminine given name, originally a diminutive of the name Maria or Maja, it can be a spelling variation of Mayka. Given name * Majka Jeżowska (born 1960), Polish singer * Majka Olkowicz, Majka (soap opera) character * Maj ...

Soler Soler may refer to: * Soler Township, Roseau County, Minnesota * Soler (band), Hong Kong based rock band * Soler (grape), French wine grape, also known as Peloursin People with the surname Soler * Alay Soler (born 1979), Cuban baseball player ...

and

Bennett Bennett may refer to: People *Bennett (name), including a list of people with the surname and given name Places Canada * Bennett, Alberta *Bennett, British Columbia * Bennett Lake, in the British Columbia and Yukon Territory **Bennett Range **Benn ...

; 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 Peyragudes is a large ski resort in the French Pyrenees, situated in the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Haute-Garonne, in the Region of Occitanie. The resort was created in 1988, when the Peyresourde and Agudes resorts were joined. Skii ...

, McNulty drove a pace that broke the entire elite GC group with the exception of his team leader Pogačar, and

Jonas Vingegaard Jonas Vingegaard Rasmussen (; born 10 December 1996) is a Danish cyclist who rides for UCI WorldTeam . He won the 2022 edition of the Tour de France. Vingegaard started as a youth rider for various Danish teams, making his breakthrough as a sen ...

. He crossed the line 3rd and became the first American to be awarded Most Combative Rider since

David Zabriskie David Zabriskie (born January 12, 1979) is a retired professional road bicycle racer from the United States, who competed as a professional between 1999 and 2013. His main strength is individual time trials and his career highlights include stage ...

, who won the award on a flat stage in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

Major results

;2015 : 1st MaillotUSA

Time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

, National Junior Road Championships : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Course de la Paix Juniors ::1st Stage 2a ( ITT) : 2nd Overall

::1st Stages 1 & 3 ( ITT) : 3rd Bronze medal blank

, UCI Junior Road World Championships : 4th Overall Driedaagse van Axel ::1st Stage 2 ( ITT) ;2016 : 1st Jersey rainbow chrono

, UCI Junior Road World Championships : 1st MaillotUSA

, National Junior Road Championships : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall

::1st Stage 3 ( ITT) : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Trofeo Karlsberg ::1st Stage 2b ( ITT) : 7th Overall Tour du Pays de Vaud ::1st Stage 2b ( ITT) ;2017 : 1st MaillotUSA

, National Under-23 Road Championships : 2nd Silver medal blank

Time trial, UCI Road World Under-23 Championships : 3rd Overall

::1st Prologue ( TTT) ;2018 : 3rd Overall

::1st Stage 1 (TTT) : 5th Overall Volta Internacional Cova da Beira : 7th Overall

: 7th Time trial, UCI Road World Under-23 Championships ;2019 : 1st Jersey red

Overall

::1st

Young rider classification ::1st Stage 3 : 3rd Bronze medal blank

, UCI Road World Under-23 Championships : 7th Overall

Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine is a road bicycle race held annually in the former region of Poitou-Charentes (now Nouvelle-Aquitaine) France. It was first held in 1987 and since 2005 it has been organised as a 2.1 event on the UCI E ...

: 9th Overall

Tour of Oman The Tour of Oman is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Oman since 2010 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. It was scheduled to become part of the new UCI ProSeries in 2020, but both the 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled d ...

;2020 : 4th Overall

Vuelta a San Juan The Vuelta a San Juan is a road cycling race held in Argentina. The race consists of only a men's competition over seven stages. From 2017 to 2019, the race had a 2.1 status, which meant that UCI World Tour teams could compete in the race. In 2020 ...

: 7th Overall

Vuelta a Andalucía The Vuelta a Andalucía (Tour of Andalusia) or Ruta del Sol (Route of the Sun) is a regional Spanish road bicycle race first held in 1925. Since 2005, it has been a 2.1 category race on the UCI Europe Tour. The race became a part of the new UCI P ...

;2021 : 6th Road race,

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

: 6th Brussels Cycling Classic ;2022 : 1st Faun-Ardèche Classic : 1st

Trofeo Calvià The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca ( en, Tour of Majorca, ca, Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or ear ...

: 1st Stage 5

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the Col d'Èze overlookin ...

: 2nd Overall

Volta ao Algarve The Volta ao Algarve (Portuguese; en, Tour of the Algarve) is a road bicycle racing stage race held annually in the Algarve, Portugal. Since 2017, it has been organised as a 2.HC event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race became part of the new UCI ...

: 2nd Trofeo Pollença – Port d'Andratx : 4th

Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana The Challenge Vuelta Ciclista a Mallorca ( en, Tour of Majorca, ca, Challenge Volta Ciclista a Mallorca) is a series of four (five until 2012) professional one day road bicycle races held on the Spanish island of Mallorca in late January or earl ...

Combativity award The combativity award is a prize given in road bicycle racing to a stage's or the overall race's most aggressive rider. References {{cycling-stub Cycling jerseys ...

Stage 17

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

;2023 : 5th

: 8th Overall

Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana The Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (; en, Tour of the Valencian Community or Tour of Valencia) is a road cycling stage race held in the Valencian Community (''Comunitat Valenciana''), Spain. Its position in the cycling calendar means it is often ...

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McNulty, Brandon 1998 births Living people American male cyclists Sportspeople from Phoenix, Arizona Olympic cyclists of the United States Cyclists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Cyclists from Arizona