USA National Road Championships: Brandon McNulty wins Olympic berth with men's time trial victory

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Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) secured the elite men’s time trial national title at the USA Cycling Pro Road Championships. McNulty defended his 2023 title and won this time on a new 33.7km route with the fastest time of 37:42, the only rider to go under 38 minutes.

He beat runner-up Tyler Stites (Project Echelon Racing) by 58 seconds, and third-placed Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) by 1:02.

McNulty's victory means that he earned an automatic spot the Paris Olympic Games with Team USA.

“I’m super happy to win another nationals. It was a big goal for me this year, especially with it being important for selection for the Olympics," McNulty said in a team statement. 

"I was a bit nervous because after [Tour de] Romandie I had a lot of fatigue from the long season so far. It was a really straightforward course [in Charleston] with no hills or turns so it was just suffering on the pedals for 40 minutes. It’s really nice to take another win and now my next TT objective will be for the Olympics.”

It was a flat course along the banks of the Kanawha River in downtown Charleston, West Virginia where the elite men covered two laps of the downtown out-and-back course for a total distance of 20.9 miles (33.7km). The weather cooperated for the first wave of riders, but a heavy downpour soaked the favourites on their second lap.

Brennan Wertz (Mosaic Cycles) was the first rider to cover the course in under 40 minutes with a time of 39:59.

That time was eclipsed by Michael Garrison (MGR p/b Nich Speedclub), who opened the event with the fastest intermediate time check at 19:17 and finished with a time of 39:24.

Jadon Jaeger (Methods to Winning) had a strong second lap of the time trial and slotted in ahead of Mertz, with a time that was just a fraction of a second faster at 39:59.

These three riders were bumped off the podium entirely as three more riders stormed across the finish line with faster times.

Powless finished with a time of 38:44, but he was bumped down a spot as Stites, who finished three seconds faster with a time of 38:41.

All eyes were on McNulty, who did not disappoint with a blistering sub-38 minutes and the winning time of time of 37:42, as he secured the stars-and-stripes jersey for another year.

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