2026 Road Worlds: McNulty Solos to Victory, Vollering Wins First Title
Posted by Jason - 2026-09-28T00:00:00.000+08:00 - Cycling Races
Last updated: 6 October 2026
Cover: Brandon McNulty on stage 5 of the 2026 Tour de France (Lannemezan, 8 July), not at the Worlds. Photo: Hugo LUC / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Brandon McNulty of the United States won the men's elite road race at the 2026 UCI Road World Championships in Montréal, Canada, on 27 September. He went clear alone with about 32 km to go and held on by 13 seconds, giving the US its first men's road world title since 1993. In the women's race, Demi Vollering of the Netherlands beat Poland's Kasia Niewiadoma in a two-up sprint for her first world road title, while Belgium's Remco Evenepoel won the men's time trial for the fourth year in a row.
The Guardian described this year's Worlds as marked by the absence of two-time defending champion Tadej Pogačar, who crashed out of the Vuelta a España. No Hong Kong riders started the elite road races, as the national squad was racing at the Asian Games in Nagoya at the same time.
Key points
- Men's road race: McNulty won in 6:17:04, with Australia's Michael Matthews and the Netherlands' Mathieu van der Poel both 13 seconds back, over 273.4 km and 3,803 m of climbing (UCI figure).
- Women's road race: Vollering won in 4:45:09, with Niewiadoma on the same time and Elisa Longo Borghini third at 4 seconds.
- Time trials: Evenepoel beat Filippo Ganna by 57 seconds, becoming the first rider to win four consecutive world time trial titles. Marlen Reusser defended the women's title.
- Course: a 13.4 km circuit around Mount Royal with 269 m of climbing per lap, ridden 12 times by the men and 8 times by the women.
What are the Road World Championships?
The UCI Road World Championships are held every year. Montréal hosted 13 events: road races and individual time trials for elite, under-23 and junior men and women, plus a mixed team relay. Organisers expected around 1,000 riders from more than 80 countries.
Unlike the Tour de France, riders race for their countries rather than their trade teams, so team-mates from the rest of the season can end up as rivals. Each winner earns the rainbow jersey, which they wear in races of the same discipline until the next Worlds.
2026 men's road race: how McNulty won it alone
The men's elite road race started in Brossard on the south shore on 27 September and covered 273.4 km: about 90 km of open roads, then a crossing into the city and 12 laps of the Mount Royal circuit. With Pogačar absent, the pre-race favourites were Belgium's Remco Evenepoel, Mexico's Isaac del Toro and France's Paul Seixas. McNulty was not on that list.
First half: a 16-rider break and a French chase
Sixteen riders went clear early and built a lead of around eight minutes. Once the race reached the circuit, France rode on the front for Seixas and the gap fell quickly. The last of the escapees were caught on the Camillien-Houde with about 106 km to go.
Mid-race: Van der Poel moves, and the Americans follow
With roughly 85 km left, Wout van Aert of Belgium attacked and formed a six-man group with Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands), Primož Roglič (Slovenia), Quinn Simmons (USA), Oscar Onley (Great Britain) and Anthon Charmig (Denmark). Van der Poel then went again and dropped Van Aert, with only Simmons and Onley able to follow. Roglič fought his way back, Onley was distanced, and Ireland's Ben Healy later bridged across alone.
This is where Team USA's plan started to pay off. Simmons was in the front group, with Matteo Jorgenson in the group behind. Jorgenson said afterwards that the team had agreed the night before to set egos aside, with the only goal being an American winner.
The finale: a 32 km solo and a stop-start chase
According to AFP, Del Toro accelerated on the Camillien-Houde and brought the leaders back, while Evenepoel was dropped. McNulty, 28, attacked just as the groups came together, with about 32 km to go, and quickly opened a gap. From then on Simmons and Jorgenson sat in the chase and marked every move.
His lead went past a minute and he still had around 50 seconds at the bell (reports range from 50 to 54 seconds). Behind him were Evenepoel, Van der Poel, Britain's Tom Pidcock and Del Toro, yet the chase kept stalling. Evenepoel attacked just before the final lap and Pidcock pushed repeatedly. McNulty struggled on the last big climb, and Reuters and AFP both reported the gap was down to about 10 seconds with roughly 10 km left. The chasers then hesitated again, and a Van der Poel attack with 6.8 km to go came to nothing.
After crossing the line, McNulty put his hands on his helmet in disbelief. He finished in 6:17:04, averaging 43.5 km/h, 13 seconds clear, with Michael Matthews of Australia beating Van der Poel in the sprint for silver. Three Americans made the top ten: McNulty, Simmons in fourth and Jorgenson in eighth. Seixas, who had just turned 20, cramped in the closing kilometres.
▶ Watch McNulty's solo finish on the official UCI Instagram
An outsider who already knew Mount Royal
McNulty joins Greg LeMond (1983, 1989) and Lance Armstrong (1993) as the only American men to win the title. Few tipped him, but there were signs: he won the GP de Montréal last year, and a week earlier he finished fourth in the world time trial, just off the podium.
"I knew something could happen but it would take a miracle. I guess today, a miracle happened," McNulty told reporters, as quoted by CBC Sports.
He normally races for UAE Emirates-XRG alongside Pogačar. Reuters said the Slovenian's absence left the field open, yet the rainbow jersey stays with the same team for a third straight year.
Evenepoel finished 12th at 25 seconds, so his bid to become the first man to win the road race and time trial in the same year fell short.
Home rider Michael Woods, 39, came out of retirement for this one race. "If the world championships were anywhere else but Montreal, I wouldn't be doing them," he told CBC Sports. He finished 35th, 6:48 down, in the last race of his career.
| Pos | Rider | Nation | Time / gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brandon McNulty | USA | 6:17:04 |
| 2 | Michael Matthews | AUS | +13s |
| 3 | Mathieu van der Poel | NED | +13s |
| 4 | Quinn Simmons | USA | +13s |
| 5 | Isaac del Toro | MEX | +14s |
| 6 | Mads Pedersen | DEN | +14s |
| 7 | Tom Pidcock | GBR | +14s |
| 8 | Matteo Jorgenson | USA | +14s |
| 9 | Giulio Ciccone | ITA | +14s |
| 10 | Ben Healy | IRL | +14s |
| 12 | Remco Evenepoel | BEL | +25s |
| 35 | Michael Woods | CAN | +6:48 |
Women's road race: Vollering finally gets the rainbow jersey
The 180.1 km race started in Brossard on the South Shore. A four-rider breakaway was caught on the Mount Royal circuit, and the Dutch team launched Vollering with three laps to go. After several attacks she and Niewiadoma went clear together, and Vollering won the two-up sprint.
It is the first world road title for Vollering, 29. Longo Borghini took bronze four seconds back and time trial champion Reusser was fourth.
Time trials and mixed relay
Both elite time trials used the same 39.2 km route through Old Montréal and along the St Lawrence River. Evenepoel averaged over 52 km/h to finish in 44:53, ahead of Ganna and France's Paul Seixas. His fourth title equals the record of Fabian Cancellara and Tony Martin, and no one had won four in a row before.
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| Men's elite TT | Remco Evenepoel (BEL) 44:53 | Filippo Ganna (ITA) +57s | Paul Seixas (FRA) +1:13 |
| Women's elite TT | Marlen Reusser (SUI) 50:24 | Zoe Bäckstedt (GBR) +40s | Franziska Koch (GER) +46s |
| Mixed relay | Italy 51:32 | France +8.6s | Switzerland +19.9s |
How hard was the Montréal course?
The Mount Royal circuit packs three tests into 13.4 km: the Voie Camillien-Houde (2.3 km at 6.2%), the short Chemin de la Polytechnique with ramps above 11%, and a rising drag on Avenue du Parc to the finish.
The men covered 273.4 km in total, roughly five times the 56 km route of the Hong Kong Cyclothon.
Montréal first hosted the Worlds in 1974, the first edition held outside Europe, when Eddy Merckx won his third professional road title here.
Watching from Hong Kong, and riding the circuit at home
The UCI streamed the races on its YouTube channel with geo-blocking, and its broadcaster list named no Hong Kong channel, so highlights on the UCI channel are the easiest way to catch up. If you have a smart trainer, the free MyWhoosh platform has a virtual version of the Mount Royal circuit. Browse our indoor cycling trainers if you want to set one up.
FAQ
Who won the 2026 men's world road race?
Brandon McNulty of the United States. He attacked alone with about 32 km left and finished the 273.4 km race in 6:17:04, 13 seconds ahead of Michael Matthews and Mathieu van der Poel. He is the first American man to win since Lance Armstrong in 1993.
Why did Tadej Pogačar miss the 2026 Worlds?
He crashed at the 2026 Vuelta a España and his season ended early, so he could not defend the title he won in 2024 and 2025.
Where are the next World Championships?
In 2027 the road Worlds join other disciplines as the UCI Cycling World Championships in Haute-Savoie Mont-Blanc, France, from 24 August to 5 September.
Did any Hong Kong riders compete?
No Hong Kong riders were on the elite road race start lists. The team was at the Asian Games in Nagoya, where Leung Wing-yee won bronze in the women's road race.
Further reading
- Bike helmet law in Hong Kong: 2026 update and how to choose a helmet
- Hong Kong Cyclothon 2026: cut-off times and pacing
- Adult bikes: road, folding and more
Sources
- UCI: 200 days to go – the 2026 Worlds courses
- UCI: Where to watch the 2026 Road World Championships
- Montréal 2026 official site
- ProCyclingStats: women's elite road race result
- ProCyclingStats: men's elite time trial result
- Tissot Timing (official UCI timing): men's elite road race result
- ProCyclingStats: men's elite road race result
- CBC Sports: McNulty becomes first American road race world champion since 1993
- FloBikes (AFP report): men's elite road race recap and results
- Velo: Brandon McNulty ends 33-year US wait for men's road world title
- Velo: Brandon McNulty stuns the favourites in Montréal
- Reuters: McNulty wins road world title to end US men's 33-year drought
- Canadian Cycling Magazine: Montréal 2026 elite men's road race report
- Escape Collective: McNulty powers to a stunning solo victory
- The Guardian: Evenepoel targets historic sweep as opportunity knocks without Pogacar
- NBC Sports via Yahoo Sports: McNulty wins US's first road race world title in 33 years
- Olympics.com: Evenepoel's fourth consecutive time trial title
- FloBikes: Why Pogačar is not racing the 2026 Worlds
- CBC Sports: Michael Woods unretires for Montréal
- UCI: 2027 UCI Cycling World Championships
