Brandon McNulty dominates US elite men's time trial for national title

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Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) ruled the roads of Oak Ridge, Tennessee and won the elite men’s time trial title at the USA Cycling Pro Road National Championships. Will Barta (Movistar) finished 1:32 off McNulty’s winning time of 40:39 and earned the silver medal. Two-time US ITT winner Joey Rosskopf (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) completed the podium in third, two minutes back.

It was McNulty’s first time back in the US to compete in road nationals since 2019, when he finished 36th in the elite time trial. The 25-year-old McNulty stormed across the 34.9km course in the rain on Wednesday afternoon and increased the time deficits on his competitors with each lap.

A total of 29 starters rolled for three circuits of the same, flat 11.6km (7.2-mile) loop covered by the women, riding a total of 34.9km along the banks of Melton Lake, located 30 minutes west of Knoxville. The rain took a short mid-day break for the first wave of riders, but the pavement was still wet as overcast skies threatened.

James Brock Mason (Ride Bikes Racing), the first rider down the start ramp, held the fastest time on the first lap, 14:18, and stayed in the hot seat position once the first wave of riders crossed the finish line, his time of 43:23 setting the standard for the next three waves.

It was not until some of the favourites took the water-logged course in the final two waves that the times began to shuffle downward. Will Barta (Movistar) went low on the first lap, 14:04, while he held that distinguishing time until the final competitor, McNulty, passed through, an impressive 32 seconds faster.

Barta held the best time across the second lap, 28:04, en route to his finish time of 42:11 and sat in the hot seat for a chunk of the afternoon. With the seven final riders on the course, he sat and waited, with Evan Boyle (Aevolo) and Alexey Vermeulen (Jukebox-ENVE- Q+M) holding second and third, respectively, a full minute back.

Meanwhile, McNulty scorched the first lap in 13:31, 32 seconds faster than Barta and continued to extend his lead on the second lap, holding a 57-second advantage over the Movistar rider with his time of 27:06.

Former ITT champion Joey Rosskopf (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) was riding in virtual third place after the first lap, 8 seconds slower than Barta, and he continued to lose time on the second lap. Samuel Gilletly (Landis Cyclery/Trek) led the final wave across the finish line in 43:18, bumping Vermeulen out of third place.

Boyle and Giletly were then displaced from the podium as the final two riders crossed the line, Rosskopf 27 seconds behind Barta for third and NcNulty in a different orbit with a full 1:32 better than Barta.

McNulty adds an elite men’s US time trial title to his U23 crown, won in 2017, and a silver medal in the junior ITT in 2016. At the World Championships, he won the junior ITT title in 2016, then added a silver and bronze in the U23 division in 2017 and 2019, respectively.

Results

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