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American McNulty wins shock road race world title / Photo: Andrej Ivanov - AFP
American McNulty wins shock road race world title
Brandon McNulty became the first American in 33 years to win the men's cycling road race world title as he stunned the favourites in Montreal on Sunday.
The 28-year-old broke clear with 32km left on the Canadian street circuit and held off a disorganised chase to win by 13 seconds ahead of Australian Michael Matthews, with former winner Mathieu van der Poel in third.
The last American man to wear the coveted rainbow jersey was Lance Armstrong in 1993, six years before he began his tainted rein at the Tour de France.
McNulty succeeds his UAE Emirates-XRG team-mate Tadej Pogacar after launching an opportunistic move just after a four-man breakaway which included Van der Poel was caught following an acceleration by one of the pre-race favourites, Isaac Del Toro.
A succession of chase groups ebbed and flowed behind him, with Briton Tom Pidcock, who finished seventh, and Irishman Ben Healy particularly aggressive, but each time the riders failed to fully cooperate.
McNulty quickly built up a lead of more than a minute at one point but with 9km left, a group including Del Toro and Paul Seixas, another of the pre-race favourites, had closed to just 10sec.
But again they all sat up looking at each other, and McNulty put his head down and went for it, meaning that the catch was never made.
D.Fraser--SMC
