'Margin to improve' - McNulty’s Poland win hints at Grand Tour potential
UAE Team Emirates-XRG manager Mauro Gianetti's believes Brandon McNulty's first WorldTour stage race shows that he retains possibilities as a Grand Tour rider. The American was a little more circumspect, maintaining that that three-week racing is 'another ball game.'
Brandon McNulty might just be the perfect prototype of a UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider. Everything at the most successful team in cycling orbits around Tadej Pogačar’s gravitational pull, and so it helps when a man understands his specific place in that cosmos.
Now in his sixth season at the team, McNulty was part of an influx of young talent around the turn of the decade. He arrived with a junior world title in his palmarès and obvious potential as a stage race rider, but he has served as a utility man, performing all manner of roles over the years.
In 2022, McNulty was Pogačar’s last man standing in the mountains of the Tour de France. In 2023, he claimed a sniper’s stage win at the Giro d’Italia. In 2024, he won stage races Off Broadway. He has been willing to shift the piano on behalf of others as required, but he can also play it himself when the opportunity presents itself.
At the Tour de Pologne this week, McNulty was given the chance to tinkle the ivories, and he claimed final overall victory after delivering a note-perfect display in the final time trial around the Wieliczka Salt Mine outside Krakow. Stage victory saw in the 12.6km test saw him claim the overall title by 29 seconds from Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious).
While McNulty was feted on the podium, UAE Team Emirates-XRG manager Mauro Gianetti watched on and rhapsodised about the 27-year-old’s ability to toggle between domestique duties and leadership.
“He’s an extraordinary rider, and we’ve been enthusiastic about him in the team ever since he came to us,” Gianetti said. “We believe in him, and he’s always shown his quality. This year, he did an extraordinary Giro d’Italia in the service of Juan Ayuso and Isaac del Toro.
“Then here, he’s had the chance to do GC, and he didn’t miss. He’s a rider who still has margin to improve, he can still grow. Winning a race as important as the Tour de Pologne will give him confidence for the future, and we could see him as a protagonist in a Grand Tour.”
A different ball game
A young McNulty signalled his ability over three weeks when he placed 15th on his debut Giro in 2020, and he hinted at it once more by taking 9th in May after working for Del Toro. When he arrived in the mixed zone on Sunday, however, McNulty was more circumspect than his manager about his Grand Tour future. His thoughts on the prospects have fluctuated over the years.
“I feel like after one Grand Tour, I’ll think ‘There’s no way’ and then other times I show some signs of hope,” McNulty smiled. “I don’t know. It’s such a different ball game compared to seven days here or to any one-week race. I feel I get better every year, and I gain that endurance for three weeks, but I don’t know. We’ll see.”
McNulty is rather surer about his place in the hierarchy at his team in the here and now. While some ambitious riders have left the squad in search of greater opportunities elsewhere, McNulty is committed to the cause for at least two more years.
“That’s just kind of how this team is: you have guys that are crazy talented all over that I’m happy to work for and when my turn comes, I try to take it. it’s nice to seize opportunities, for sure,” he said.
“It’s obvious when there are guys who are super good like Tadej and Isaac, so it’s a pleasure to ride for them. But everyone has their opportunity. We have a lot of victories as a team but also a lot of different riders winning. They manage it well, I think.”
On Sunday, McNulty collected the first WorldTour stage race win of his career, and he will seek to add more lines to his palmarès between here and the end of the season. He will line up among the favourites for both the Deutschland Tour and the CRO Tour, while he will race with the American selection at the Maryland Cycling Classic. He confirmed, however, that he will not ride the World Championships in Rwanda, even if the hilly time trial course is well tailored to his talents.
“It’s nice, because the first part of the year wasn’t the best for me, at least in terms of victories,” McNulty said of his Poland triumph. “I had some ok results but a lot of illness. It was nice to get home for the summer and train and now get an overall win finally.”
