Year-round rivals, Brandon McNulty and Matteo Jorgenson's shared history helps explain their World Championship success

McNulty and Jorgenson go way back, the 28-year-old World Championship winner said afterward. “When we were 16, we started racing together. We even crossed the Atlantic three times back then so we could ride in Belgian fairground races,” McNulty recalled. “Matteo was on that trip too, which makes achieving this now even more special.”

"We already had the dream of becoming pros back then, but we had no idea what that actually entailed," he continues. “Europe was just a strange place back then, where everything was crazy. But the fact that we did well there gave us the confidence to move on to the junior ranks and lay the foundation for the careers we have now.”

That success came fairly quickly. McNulty, a native of sweltering Phoenix, Arizona, finished third at the 2015 Junior World Time Trial Championships in Richmond (U.S.) and claimed the world title a year later in Qatar—also a desert climate. Eventually, McNulty and Jorgenson found their way back to the WorldTour via Rally/UAE (McNulty had already finished 16th in Montreal in 2018 riding for Rally) and Jelly Belly/Movistar/Visma, respectively.

"I've been part of USA Cycling since I was fifteen or sixteen years old. So I literally grew up with it," said McNulty. "I won the time trial as a junior at the World Championships, and then Quinn won the road race years later, but this World Championship is truly the ultimate dream. So it’s incredibly special to be doing this with people I’ve known since I was just a kid.”

The World Championship winner knows better than anyone that he also has to thank Simmons and McNulty for that. “The plan was to race with three riders in the final. At first, Quinn was out front, and Matteo and I were able to play around a bit, after which I chose my moment. I know they really disrupted things back there, but everyone did a great job—I’m very grateful for that.”

Jorgenson was also over the moon. The Visma | Lease a Bike rider crossed the finish line as if he had won the race himself—and, in his own words, that’s exactly how it felt.“My proudest victory,” we could already hear the American telling TV stations from a distance in the mixed zone.

Behind the scenes, Jorgenson has been working on this World Championship for some time now, on his own continent. And there, as a member of the Visma | Lease a Bike management team, he also drew on the tools and expertise he’d acquired with his own team, as he explained in Montreal.

"I wrote a document last week to send to the guys with some analysis," said Jorgenson. “Normally, the coaching staff on my own team does that, but this time I did it myself. I thought about it for a very long time. We put together a great plan and set aside all our egos and personal interests, which contributed to this victory.”

That plan involved Simmons covering the early moves. The workhorse, who was still in fourth place himself, joined Mathieu van der Poel in the breakaway and led the race until the 30-kilometer mark. At the same time, it was up to Jorgenson and McNulty to keep an eye on top favorites like Paul Seixas, Isaac del Toro, and Remco Evenepoel—a task that also requires particularly strong legs.

"When it all came down to it, we were able to get someone into a solo breakaway, which was the goal," Jorgenson explained to Eurosport right after crossing the finish line. Together with Simmons, he then made sure the chasers couldn't catch up. "From there, my legs felt incredibly strong, and I was able to respond to the attacks and frustrate the other riders—that helped a lot."