The rainbow jersey had long been a dream for Brandon McNulty, and that dream finally became reality on September 27 when the American cyclist stunned the field with a solo victory at the 2026 World Championships in Montréal. Even after crossing the finish line as world champion, McNulty could barely believe it, admitting, “I really didn’t believe it until I could see 50 metres to go and look back and there was no one there.” Now, only days after the biggest victory of his career, the 28-year-old is preparing to make his first racing appearance in the rainbow jersey at the Giro dell’Emilia.

McNulty will head straight into the Italian one-day Classics with the world champion’s colors on his shoulders. His campaign begins at the Giro dell’Emilia on October 3, before he moves on to the Coppa Agostoni on October 4 and Tre Valli Varesine on October 6. Interestingly, the Giro dell’Emilia will carry particular meaning for McNulty. Not only will it be his first competitive race since becoming world champion, but it will also be his first appearance at the event and his first race in the elite men’s road race rainbow jersey.

“I’m really excited to make my debut in the rainbow jersey this Saturday. The victory in Montreal was incredible for me, and I’m still processing it and letting it sink in,” McNulty said. While this will be McNulty’s first time racing in the rainbow jersey as an elite men’s road race world champion, it is not his first rainbow jersey.

Ten years ago, in 2016, the American won the Junior Men’s Individual Time Trial World Championship in Doha and wore the rainbow jersey as the world champion in that discipline. Now, at 28, McNulty has reached the top level of the sport once again. His victory in Montréal made him the Elite Men’s Road Race World Champion and ended a 33-year wait for an American man to win the title. The last U.S. male rider to claim the world road race crown before McNulty was Lance Armstrong in 1993.

His return to the Italian Classics also comes after a five-year absence from this part of the calendar. McNulty last raced the Italian end-of-season Classics in 2021, and this time he will arrive with an entirely different status. But despite the new jersey and the attention that comes with it, McNulty insists his approach will remain the same.

“I still have many races left this season, and I’m really looking forward to them. We have a strong team for these races, and we’ll be as aggressive as ever,” McNulty said. “Even though I have the honor of wearing the rainbow jersey, that doesn’t change my approach. We’ll continue racing the way we always have. Whether it’s attacking or helping my teammates, I know my role pretty well, and we have a great understanding of what works for us, so we’ll continue down that path.”

McNulty will have plenty of support around him at the Giro dell’Emilia, with Igor Arrieta, Filippo Baroncini, Felix Großschartner, Jhonatan Narváez, Tim Wellens and Adam Yates joining him on the UAE Team Emirates-XRG lineup. The team also arrives with recent success at the race, having won the last two editions through Isaac del Toro in 2025 and Tadej Pogačar in 2024. But McNulty’s road to the rainbow jersey was far from easy.

McNulty overcame tough setbacks before his World Title

At the Paris Olympics in July 2024, McNulty finished fifth in the individual time trial, 1:04 behind gold medalist Remco Evenepoel. The result was difficult to accept for the American, who had arrived in Paris hoping to fight for a medal. “I really wanted a medal so it’s a bit bittersweet,” McNulty told Cyclingnews after the race. 

Later that summer, McNulty faced another setback at the Vuelta a España. During Stage 13, his wheels slipped on the descent of the Puerto de Lumeras, sending him underneath a guardrail and into the bushes. He escaped with road rash and cuts, but the crash affected his confidence. “It’s been tough to get the confidence back, but it’s coming,” he admitted. McNulty also experienced pain in his right Achilles during a later breakaway, which he believed could have been connected to the crash.

Another difficult moment came at the 2026 Tour de France. On July 21, McNulty was knocked off his bike by a car while heading toward the start of the Stage 16 individual time trial. His team later played down the severity of the incident, saying he had escaped without a serious injury. Just two days later, however, McNulty’s Tour campaign came to an early end.

He was dropped early on Stage 18 and was struggling with throat-related illness before abandoning the race with around 50 kilometres remaining. He became the first UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider to withdraw from that year’s Tour. Tadej Pogačar later admitted, “I’m really sad that today Brandon felt so bad and could not finish. We will miss him the next two days.” Then came Montréal.

Just over two months after leaving the Tour, McNulty produced the biggest performance of his career at the 2026 World Championships. He launched his solo attack with around 32 kilometres remaining and saw his advantage shrink to just 10 seconds with 10 kilometres to go. Despite the pressure from behind and the exhaustion in his legs, he held on to become the first American man in 33 years to win the elite men’s road race world title.

The magnitude of the moment left McNulty almost unable to believe what he had achieved. “I’m really at a loss for words,” he said after the finish, describing the victory as something that required a miracle. His disbelief continued right through the final metres, when he finally looked back and realized there was nobody close enough to catch him.