Brandon McNulty Has the Rainbow Jersey. Is Grand Tour Leadership Next?

Brandon McNulty won’t spend his entire season in the rainbow jersey fetching bottles for Tadej Pogačar.

That’s according to UAE Emirates-XRG boss Joxean Fernández Matxin, who said the American world champion will see opportunities to win in 2027. And he even hinted at the possibility of grand tour leadership.

“Yes, have no doubt that he will have freedom and his own opportunities,” Matxin told Eurosport.

The bigger question is where those chances might fall on the stacked super team roster built around Pogačar and rising star Isaac del Toro.

Matxin said UAE is committed to giving the 28-year-old Arizonan plenty of shots to honor the stripes next season. In fact, UAE already backed McNulty across the Italian fall classics, where he delivered his first win in the rainbow jersey at the Veneto Classic.

“People are now talking about Brandon McNulty as world champion, but in recent years he has been leader or co-leader in many of the races on his calendar,” Matxin said.

Could McNulty lead UAE at a grand tour?

McNulty admits he will be taking pulls for Pogačar in the big races like the Tour de France, and he has no illusions that his new stripes will change the pecking order that much.

But even Pogi joked that he might be returning the favor for McNulty in a few select races.

For McNulty, the most intriguing part of his rainbow jersey season could be dipping his toes into grand tour leadership.

With strong time trialing and climbing skillset, he’s still seen as untapped potential across three weeks. Matxin said 2027 could give him a clearer pathway.

“We’ve also tried to see how far he can go in a grand tour,” Matxin told Eurosport. “In the end, for one reason or another, the stars haven’t all aligned for him, because I don’t believe he isn’t a grand tour rider.”

He pointed to the 2025 Giro d’Italia as an example of how quickly the hierarchy can shift. McNulty finished a career-best ninth overall at the 2025 Giro while helping Del Toro finish second overall.

“In fact, at last year’s Giro d’Italia we had two leaders, Adam Yates and Juan Ayuso, and two alternatives, Brandon McNulty and Isaac del Toro,” he said. “In the end, Del Toro emerged strongly and consistently, but McNulty could also have had the opportunity.”

Leading a grand tour wouldn’t be that far of a stretch. He’s already proven he can win shorter, week-long stage races, like the CRO Race, the Volta a Valenciana, the Tour of Luxembourg, and the Tour de Pologne.

World title strengthens McNulty’s case

With Pogacar all but certain to return to the Tour de France and likely the Vuelta a España as well, a shot at the Giro alongside Del Toro could be in the cards.

All that will be fleshed out in the coming weeks in the winter team camps.

McNulty’s worlds win in Montréal stunned many, and Matxin and the other UAE brass were half-expecting Del Toro to come up aces with Pogačar sitting out with injury.

Instead, it was Team USA’s superb tactics coupled with McNulty’s perfectly timed attack that won the day to deliver America’s first road world title since 1993.

“It was a more open world championships. Because a rider like Tadej, simply by being there, imposes a certain way of racing,” Matxin said. “Brandon seized his chance.”

Matxin pointed to a key moment in the final lap when Tom Pidcock’s pursuit drew the lead chasers within a few seconds of McNulty. Instead of shutting down the move, the bunch sat up, and McNulty had the legs to power home the historic win.

“Brandon won, but if Pidcock had closed those six seconds and they caught him, maybe we’d be talking about [Matteo] Jorgenson having won,” Matxin said.

“McNulty has that ability to hold on. He’s a time trialist, a rider with unquestionable quality and a mentality for winning. When we target certain objectives, he generally very rarely falls short.”

McNulty now has the jersey and the promise of freedom. He said he’s dreaming of winning a Tour de France stage in the world champion’s jersey.

The question will be if UAE lets him chase something even bigger.