Dream Denied: Why the Top Favorites Missed Out to McNulty at Worlds

It’s a case of what went wrong for the top pre-race favorites, with Paul Seixas, Wout Van Aert, Remco Evenepoel and Tom Pidcock all wondering what they could have done differently to overcome a tactically-perfect USA team in the elite men’s world championship road race.

Brandon McNulty pulled off a stunning win with a hugely impressive solo move, attacking 32km from the finish and fending off all efforts to close up to him from behind.

Those who tried hard to get to him included Tom Pidcock, and also Remco Evenepoel. And while the latter didn’t stop to talk to TV after the finish, his teammate Wout van Aert did.

“I’m kind of disappointed, I came here for more as a team, personally as well,” he said. “But on the other hand there is not much regrets that I can h nave. The legs hurt really bad early on and I still tried to do early moves so I could get ahead of the race, which was good.

“But especially Matteo [Jorgenson] was already super strong in that time.”

Van Aert went on the attack with 87km to go. He joined big rival Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands), Primož Roglič (Slovenia), Quinn Simmons (USA), Oscar Onley (Great Britain) and Anthon Charmig (Denmark) in building a solid gap over the other contenders. He stayed to the fore until Van der Poel split that group with a huge effort with 74km to go.

“Once I was dropped there we still kept close to the front, so I still believed there was something possible,” Van Aert said. “But at some point there was not much more to do for me than helping Remco a bit. And the last lap I was just crawling to the finish.”

Evenepoel had looked on course for a great race, given his victory in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec just over two weeks ago, plus his dominant win earlier this week in the elite men’s time trial.

However he was clearly not his usual self on Sunday, with Belgium teammate Thibaut Nys telling reporters at the finish that Evenepoel had told him he was not feeling well.

He was dropped on several occasions by the other pre-race favorites, but did fight back and launched a solo move with just over one lap to go.

McNulty was already clear at that point and Evenepoel was soon closed down by the other riders. He eventually finished

“For me it was clear.. My race in terms of riding the deep final was over,” Van Aert said, when asked what he told Evenepoel during the race. “So eventually when Remco came to me, I think he was one of the last favorites joining the group. I asked him how he was doing.

He said he was not feeling really well but I tried to tell him to still go for it. I still tried to close the gap a little bit to the front group at the time and then my race was over.”

It was a disappointment for those two riders, particularly given the pre-race expectations.

‘Shameful, a rookie mistake’

There was disappointment too for Paul Seixas, the highly talented French rider who just turned 20. He looked ominously strong for much of the race but, when things got a little complicated following the attack by McNulty, he lacked the reserves to get across to the American.

He was riding the longest race of his pro career and this plus his youth will raise questions about whether it was wise for the French national team to start driving the pace with over 100km remaining. Sure, they put the other teams under pressure, but doing so much so early meant that Seixas lacked the kind of support later on that could have made all the difference.

Ultimately, his efforts plus the distance saw him begin to grab his thigh, his muscles locking up. He cracked with about 4km to go and finished back in 15th place.

“It was a race for tough riders, for me, it was perfect,” he told TNT Sports. “It’s a huge disappointment. My teammates gave everything so I could get the best result and it’s a failure. Everything was going so well, I had incredible legs and honestly, I don’t feel like talking about it.

“What I did today, cramping like that, is shameful. It’s a rookie mistake, I’ve never cramped in my life on the bike. I’m disappointed for myself but it’s what I deserve. My teammates did an amazing job. They don’t deserve a leader like me. It must be the hydration, I don’t know, I don’t really feel like talking about it.”

Seixas just turned 20 years of age and is more junior than all of his big rivals. He is perhaps being tough on himself but such is his ambition and his rush to get to the top of the sport.

“It’s really a shame to fight for this,” he continued. “It’s my fault, I’m really disappointed in what I did. You could say not much is missing but I feel like I’m missing a lot today.

“It’s hard to be comforted right now, we can’t just move on easily, it’s going to take me some time.”

‘I can be really happy with my legs’

Tom Pidcock was one of the most impressive riders in the final laps, launching attack after attack in a bid to slap the elastic. He was still at it on the final lap, believing it was possible to get up to McNulty once he distanced the others.

He was hugely strong but didn’t manage to snap the elastic. Still, it was a hugely impressive performance, not least because he hit the deck early on. He also had to contend with very strong marking by McNulty’s US teammate Jorgenson.

“The crash definitely didn’t help,” he said. “There was a bit of a chase. But tactically it was very difficult in the end. I think I had really, really good legs, honestly. But to make the difference, to get a gap with the wind the way it was, with the USA team and Matteo… He was super strong once Brandon attacked.

“And obviously Isaac as well on the same [UAE] team, it was always going to be super difficult to make a difference there in the end after six hours. I’m a bit disappointed, honestly, but I think I can be really happy with my legs. There are more years to try.”

It’s almost inevitable that Pidcock will find himself analysing how the race unfolded and thinking about how and where things might have been difficult.

Still, he said that he considered there wasn’t anything more he could have done.

“It was really difficult, nobody wanted to work together in that group. To wait and to just gamble all on the last lap or to try something, I think it was difficult.

“I don’t think I have any regrets, I did what I could.”

At least he is in that position, being able to walk away from the race without any what ifs.

Seixas doesn’t really have that, and neither does Evenepoel. Both had hoped for a lot more from themselves but, on the day, they couldn’t do what they expected.

It’s a huge contrast with McNulty, who greatly exceeded his own expectations on a day he will remember forever.