![\"Grand](\"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/CAuldPhoto-2025-Montreal-9688-1-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWe dive into the power numbers of Tadej Poga\u010dar, Brandon McNulty, and Quinn Simmons at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montr\u00e9al.<\/p>\n
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(Photo: Chris Auld)<\/p>\n
Published September 15, 2025 02:26PM<\/p>\n
Brandon McNulty<\/a> was following attacks in the first kilometer of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montr\u00e9al<\/a>, a 209km classic in the same host city as the 2026 UCI Road World Championships, and things were extremely difficult from the start. The American\u2019s peak 3min, 4min, and 5min power all came in the first five minutes of the race.<\/p>\n With all that energy expended, you might expect McNulty to be a bit tired by the end of the race. Yet, the opposite was true. McNulty\u2019s peak 20min, 30min, and 1 hour power occurred in the final portion of the GP de Montr\u00e9al \u2013 and one of those efforts included a solo bridge to Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prior to the weekend in Canada, the world champion hadn\u2019t raced since the Tour de France. His form was highly questionable, especially after an anonymous finish of 29th place at Friday\u2019s GP de Qu\u00e9bec. But Montr\u00e9al\u2019s route was harder, much harder.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar was the defending champion of the GP de Montr\u00e9al, and few expected a different result from his solo win in 2024. The Slovenian has been quietly preparing for next week\u2019s UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda. He will attempt to defend his rainbow jersey in the Men\u2019s Elite Road Race, which takes place on a 267.5km route with 6,096 meters of climbing.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s GP de Montr\u00e9al consisted of 209km with 3,899 meters of climbing, or an average of 18.7 meters of climbing per kilometer. For context, a grand tour mountain stage might have 30 meters of climbing per kilometer, while a hilly race like Amstel Gold might have 12 meters of climbing per kilometer.<\/p>\n Rwanda\u2019s Worlds route has 23 meters of climbing per kilometer, which means that it is closer to a mountain stage than an Ardennes Classic. There is no doubt that Poga\u010dar is the favorite, but after watching the GP de Montr\u00e9al, it might be a lot closer than we initially thought. Here is what happened.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar raced the GP de Montr\u00e9al in a defensive manner, especially compared to his 101km solo effort at the 2024 UCI Road World Championships. He trusted his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates to set the pace for the majority of the race. They kept the early break in check, and Poga\u010dar stayed relaxed for the first three-quarters of the race.<\/p>\n Before we skip to the finale, we have to acknowledge McNulty\u2019s efforts in the first half hour of the race. These are numbers that most amateurs couldn\u2019t dream of hitting. At somewhere around 70 kg, McNulty is pushing well over 500w for a few minutes at a time. He was helping control the break formation and keep Poga\u010dar in position. By the time most viewers tune in with 60km to go, these efforts are long forgotten.<\/p>\n McNulty \u2013 First 2km of the race<\/p>\n Time: 4:32 Most of us would be falling off our bikes after a VO2 Max effort like this, but McNulty still had 205km and five hours of racing to go.<\/p>\n For the next few hours, McNulty and Team UAE Emirates-XRG controlled the pace. This was the \u201ceasy\u201d portion of the race, but McNulty still averaged 318w (NP 382w) for almost four hours. The peloton was shrinking by the minute, and there were only 36km to go when McNulty attacked at the base of the main climb on course, the Montee Camilien Houde.<\/p>\n Quinn Simmons followed immediately, but Poga\u010dar waited for other riders to close the gap. Louis Barr\u00e9 accelerated next, and that was the signal for Poga\u010dar to jump across. For a few hundred meters, Barr\u00e9 was on the world champion\u2019s wheel, so we know almost exactly the power that Poga\u010dar was doing on the climb. This was a massive effort for all four riders, and it would set the stage for the rest of the race. No one would return to the front group from this point on \u2013 these four riders would battle for the podium.<\/p>\n McNulty \u2013 Montee Camilien Houde with 36km to go<\/p>\n Time: 3:48 For the next 10km, McNulty pulled the group of four without asking for a single pull. Simmons and Barr\u00e9 sat behind him, while Poga\u010dar relaxed at the back of the group. McNulty was setting up the inevitable, and with 23km to go, Poga\u010dar attacked. Simmons was slow to react, but the American tried valiantly to get across. McNulty clawed his way back to Captain America\u2019s wheel, while Barr\u00e9 said goodbye to the leaders.<\/p>\n Compared to the previous climb which split the race, Poga\u010dar went three seconds faster this lap, despite pushing into the wind for nearly the entire climb. The American national champion pushed over 500w for four minutes, but Poga\u010dar had put 18 seconds into him by the top of the climb. It was a race-winning attack by the world champion, one of those efforts that we are bound to see in Rwanda. But there was still another twist in the tale.<\/p>\n Simmons \u2013 Montee Camilien Houde with 24km to go<\/p>\n Time: 4:04 We\u2019d seen this movie before: UAE Team Emirates-XRG sets up an attack by Tadej Poga\u010dar. The world champion goes solo, and that\u2019s a wrap.<\/p>\n But with 16.5km to go, Poga\u010dar was slowly being reeled back in. Not by Simmons, but by his teammates, McNulty. The world champion seemed to wait on the next climb, and then there were two UAE Team Emirates-XRG riders at the front, with Simmons about 35 seconds behind. And that\u2019s how the race would finish.<\/p>\n The time gaps grew, but Simmons held on for third ahead of Neilson Powless and Adam Yates. After his heroic efforts, Barr\u00e9 jumped away from the chase group again, holding on for sixth place after more than five hours of racing.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar and McNulty were on a training ride for the final few kilometers, riding side-by-side, chatting and smiling at 50 kph. They rolled across the line, celebrating together, with McNulty taking the win ahead of the rainbow jersey. Poga\u010dar had been the strongest rider on the climb, but you could make a great case for McNulty being the strongest rider in the race.<\/p>\n McNulty was the first rider to attack in the final 40km, and his acceleration set up the winning move for Poga\u010dar. On top of that, McNulty pulled for 10km straight in between his attack and Poga\u010dar\u2019s. While the American was pushing over 400w, the world champion was sitting in the draft at 200-300w.<\/p>\n McNulty \u2013 GP de Montr\u00e9al<\/p>\n Time: 5hrs 13min 15sec The pair was smiling together in Montr\u00e9al, but things will look a lot different in Rwanda. Team USA put three riders in the Top 4 at the GP de Montr\u00e9al. However, McNulty and Powless will not be competing at the world championships. Simmons will represent Team USA, while McNulty is heading to the Tour de Luxembourg and Powless\u2019 schedule remains a question mark.<\/p>\n Our biggest takeaway from the GP de Montr\u00e9al is this: Everyone expected Tadej Poga\u010dar to win. So when he attacked with 24km to go, it wasn\u2019t a surprise that no one could follow him. What we didn\u2019t expect were these performances from McNulty and Simmons. But maybe we should have.<\/p>\n McNulty has had a slow and steady buildup in the WorldTour. He was a superstar Junior, but he didn\u2019t win much in his first few years as a pro. But in the last two years, McNulty has shown that he is one of the strongest riders in the world. He won his first WorldTour stage race this year at the Tour de Pologne, he has won stages in the Giro and Vuelta, and he was arguably the strongest rider in this year\u2019s GP de Montr\u00e9al.<\/p>\n Simmons was also a Junior superstar \u2013 in fact, he was the Junior World Champion. He has been getting better and better, and he took his first WorldTour wins in 2025. Captain America is a rider who has perfected the art of peaking, and there isn\u2019t any doubt that he\u2019s in incredible shape ahead of the Road World Championships. Not only did he finish 3rd in the GP de Montr\u00e9al, but he held on to finish solo after getting worked over by two of the strongest riders in the world. If there is anyone who can follow Poga\u010dar at the world championships, I would keep an eye on Quinn Simmons.<\/p>\n Power Analysis data courtesy of Strava<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Grand](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/CAuldPhoto-2025-Montreal-8972-scaled.jpg\")
Montr\u00e9al\u2019s course was much harder than Qu\u00e9bec. (Photo: Chris Auld)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/McNulty-First-2min.png\")
<\/p>\n
\nAverage Power: 538w (~7.7w\/kg)
\nPeak 3min Power: 575w (~8.2w\/kg)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/McNulty-Montee-Camilien-Houde-with-36km-to-go.png\")
McNulty \u2013 Montee Camilien Houde with 36km to go<\/p>\n
\nAverage Power: 548w (~7.8w\/kg)
\nPoga\u010dar: 3:49 at ~7.7w\/kg
\nSimmons: 3:48 at 554w (7.6w\/kg)
\nBarr\u00e9 on Poga\u010dar\u2019s wheel: 28 seconds at 538w (7.7w\/kg)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Simmons-Montee-Camilien-Houde-with-24km-to-go.png\")
Simmons \u2013 Montee Camilien Houde with 24km to go<\/p>\n
\nAverage Power: 503w (6.9w\/kg)
\nPoga\u010dar: 3:46 at ~8w\/kg<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/McNulty-GP-de-Montreal.png\")
McNulty \u2013 GP de Montr\u00e9al<\/p>\n
\nAverage Power: 332w (~4.7w\/kg)
\nNormalized Power: 398w (~5.6w\/kg)<\/p>\n![\"Grand](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/CAuldPhoto-2025-Montreal-9880-1-scaled.jpg\")
Poga\u010dar leads McNulty. (Photo: Chris Auld)<\/p>\n