'I pulled it off and turned everything around' - Brandon McNulty on the ride that changed him

This article is part of Cycling Weekly's 'the ride that changed me' series. Our writers hear from a range of professional and ex-professional cyclists about that one day on the bike that changed the trajectory of their career for good. 

Brandon McNulty is moving up in the world. The American is slowly but surely proving himself to be one of UAE Team Emirates’ most important riders, and judging by his start to 2024, isn’t slowing down any time soon. 

Since 2015, when he won the junior time trial title at the US junior national championships, the Arizona born rider has become a weapon in a skinsuit, blasting his way onto the WorldTour in an aerodynamic blur.

Cycling Weekly caught up with McNulty at the start of stage two at Paris-Nice, 24 hours prior to him briefly pulling on the yellow jersey in Auxerre after UAE's team time trial triumph on stage three. 

Unfortunately for the American, it was short lived, as Australia's Luke Plapp took it off his shoulders on stage four in Mont Brouilly. 

When asked to pick out a career defining moment to date, the man from Phoenix shrugged and rightly pointed out that there were a fair few to pick from. That wasn't a flash of arrogance in any way, it was McNulty simply not knowing where to start as he sifted through his journey to date which eventually had brought him to Paris-Nice once more. 

"I guess the Giro di Sicilia in 2019, my first pro win, is one that definitely helped me get here,” McNulty says. "There’s definitely a lot."

"I don’t really remember much. It was a long time ago now. But I remember it was bad weather, I was going really well and I trained well that year. I just attacked, went all out and got a good gap then just didn’t look back, I guess."

The American is a man of few words, preferring to let his bike riding do the talking, and shows little emotion as he reflects on the early days. To some, that could appear cold, but equally it's clear that McNulty is a man dedicated to his craft, possessing the exact kind of hardened edge and ruthlessness that the best cyclists need in order to survive everything the sport will throw at you on a yearly basis. 

McNulty’s progress at UAE has been consistent since he joined in 2020, with a previous stage win at la course au soleil as well as regular top ten finishes in some of Europe’s biggest stage races on his palmarès. 

Reporters also ran out of superlatives to describe the 25-year-old’s performance on stage 17 of the 2022 Tour de France, when McNulty decimated the elite GC group by setting a blistering pace as he teed up a stage win for Tadej Pogačar at Peyragudes. 

Although to him, there was always something missing, until recently, a Grand Tour stage win of his own. McNulty’s face lights up as he looks back on victory in Bergamo at last year’s Giro d’Italia. 

"The Giro was a big turning point, of course, getting a first Grand Tour win is so big for anyone so that day was super super special," he says. 

McNulty clawed back a rampaging Ben Healy on the Il Lombardia-style stage, before out-sprinting the Irishman at speed with the line in sight. He punched the air with delight at finally landing the win that had eluded him until then. 

"I was quite sick early on in that race," he recalls. "By that day, I finally seemed to be coming back, so it was really satisfying to finally be me again. It was definitely such a big relief to do it.

"It just seemed like it was slipping away, that Grand Tour win, I just kept getting sick with one thing or another but yeah, I still pulled it off and turned everything around last year."

Join us for the next instalment of 'the ride that changed me' in a fortnight's time.