McNulty becomes 1st American to win elite road race world title since Lance Armstrong in 1993

McNulty becomes 1st American to win elite road race world title since Lance Armstrong in 1993

Canada's Michael Woods places 35th in final race on home soil in Montreal

Brandon McNulty surprised the field to capture the men's elite road race on the final day of UCI Road World Championships in Montreal.

The 28-year-old made his move with 33 kilometres and never relinquished the lead, finishing with a time of six hours, 17 minutes and four seconds.

"Until the last 300 metres, I really didn't even believe it. ... I was just dying, but I just kept pushing," said McNulty, who won Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal last season. "I'm at a loss for words."

McNulty became the first American to win an elite road race world title since Lance Armstrong struck rainbow gold at Oslo in 1993.

"We've said for weeks that we have a super strong team and that it's possible. We rode crazy well. We marked ⁠everything, had guys ahead," he said.

"I knew something could happen but it would take a miracle. I guess today, a miracle happened."

🌈🇺🇸 BRANDON MCNULTY 🇺🇸🌈

Unbelievable scenes as the American claims the 2026 Men Elite UCI Road World Championships title 🤯

Just WOW! 👏#Montréal2026 pic.twitter.com/jXjh5EOKIe

Michael Matthews of Australia made a late push to claim silver in a time of 6:17:17, with Matthew van der Poel of the Netherlands earning bronze.

McNulty struggled on the ‌last significant climb and saw his lead shrink to 10 seconds with 10 km left but none of the chasers ​were able to take advantage, with Van der Poel ⁠leading an attack with 6.8 km to go ⁠that fizzled out.

Michael Leonard of Oakville, Ont., was the top Canadian, finishing 32nd position in a time of 6:23:43.

Michael Woods of Toronto came in 35th with a time of 6:23:52 in his final race, while Nickolas Zukowsky of Sainte-Lucie-des-Laurentides, Que., posted a time of 6:23:57 to finish 45th.

Fellow Canadians Pier-André Côté, Guillaume Boivin and birthday boy Hugo Houle recorded DNFs.

Injured Canadian rider Derek Gee-West withdraws from road cycling worlds

Canadian cyclist Vallieres Mill exits women's elite road race at worlds after crash during title defence

The Canadian contingent entered without Derek Gee-West, who announced his withdrawal from the race on Tuesday in order to continue recovering from a broken rib sustained at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on Sept. 13.

French rider Paul Seixas, an ascending 20-year-old who won bronze in the men's elite individual time trial on Day 1 last Sunday, sustained an apparent injury in the final stretch of the race, falling back to 15th and finishing in a time of 6:19:51.

The absence of two-time defending champion Tadej Pogacar, who is recovering from a ⁠crash he suffered last month, left the field open.

Without the Slovenian in the field, the ⁠race ⁠was chaotic and unpredictable throughout ​the 273.4-km course, which included 12 laps of a 13.4-km circuit that was packed with enthusiastic ​fans.

McNulty had not been among ⁠the pre-race favourites — unlike former world champion Remco Evenepoel or young talents Isaac del Toro and Seixas.

Armstrong congratulated McNulty on his victory.

Congratulations @BrandonMcNult on winning the World Championship in Montreal today. Hands down the most exciting race of the year and a deserved winner. A thing of beauty. 🇺🇲 🇺🇲 🇺🇲 !!!!!

"Congratulations @BrandonMcNult on winning the World Championship in Montreal today," Armstrong posted on social media.

"Hands down the most exciting race of the year and a deserved winner. ⁠A thing of beauty."