{"id":913872,"date":"2026-09-29T08:58:13","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T08:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/913872\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T08:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T08:58:13","slug":"lance-armstrong-annoyed-by-uae-manager-at-world-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/913872\/","title":{"rendered":"Lance Armstrong annoyed by UAE manager at World Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

The moment has arrived: Lance Armstrong<\/a> has a successor. For a long time, the American was the last world road cycling champion, after he claimed the rainbow jersey in Oslo in 1993 amid pouring rain. On Sunday, Brandon McNulty<\/a> succeeded him in Montreal, an event Armstrong discussed afterward on THEMOVE podcast<\/a>, calling out the behaviour of one team manager specifically. Armstrong thoroughly enjoyed the World Championships in Canada<\/a>. \u201cA hell of a race. Folks, today you were treated to a real, real bike race,\u201d he begins. \u201cWe\u2019ve talked about Brandon so often on this show. And history will prove that we are\u2014and always have been\u2014huge fans of this young man. He has incredible drive.\u201d<\/p>\n

With 85 kilometers to go, Mathieu van der Poel made his move\u2014Armstrong saw it, too. \u201cDo you remember that first surge by Mathieu van der Poel? I thought, \u2018Oh no, okay, this is going to be one of those days again. This is just going to be another one-man show by Mathieu: pure dominance.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more below the photo!<\/p>\n

\"van-der-poel-simmons-onley\"\/<\/p>\n

Van der Poel with Quinn Simmons.<\/p>\n

Armstrong believes Poga\u010dar influenced the World Championships despite his absence<\/p>\n

“But that didn’t happen. Still, if you look at the list of, let’s say, the top five, six, or seven favourites, I think they were thrown off by the fact that Pogacar wasn’t there\u2014which is the ultimate compliment. It was enough to make you scratch your head.”<\/p>\n

Armstrong speculates on a “what-if” scenario. \u201cPoga\u010dar would probably have moved up to that group with Van der Poel and then pulled away. The group with Mathieu would then be reeled in, and that would be it. With Tadej there, they\u2019re in a kind of bubble and know how to race. Without him, there\u2019s no structure.\u201d<\/p>\n

“You know, sometimes I fall into that trap and think, ‘Poga\u010dar just beats everyone\u2014what’s so hard about this sport? Train hard every day, break away from the pack, and win,'” he continues. “You saw it today: okay, not everyone can do that. Paul Seixas, one of the best in the world; Isaac Del Toro, an amazing talent. All those guys were on their last legs by the end of the race because they were trying to race like Poga\u010dar. So that turns out to be damn hard\u2014we\u2019ve certainly learned that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more below the photo!<\/p>\n

\"McNulty<\/p>\n

“The World Championships were a crazy race,” says Lance Armstrong.<\/p>\n

Armstrong is annoyed by UAE team manager<\/p>\n

“My take on the course is: a lot tougher than I expected,” he adds. “This was a brutally tough course\u2014there’s no other way to describe it. But it’s almost a different kind of toughness that actually makes it easier for the bigger, stronger riders.”<\/p>\n

“Like McNulty, an all-rounder; Michael Matthews, a sprinter-type; Van der Poel, a classics rider. Those climbs are so short\u2014it’s pure brute strength in your legs\u2014and that wore down the true climbers.”<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s where McNulty took advantage. \u201cWhat we saw was that he\u2019s also an opportunist. He said, \u2018You know what, I\u2019m just going to attack and see what happens.\u2019\u201d Then he opened up a gap and used his tremendous engine to stay ahead. \u201cHe\u2019s an incredible rider,\u201d Armstrong repeats.<\/p>\n

Armstrong does take issue with the fact that Brandon McNulty is not picked every year by UAE for the Tour de France. So when the TV cameras showed the UAE team boss excitedly hugging McNulty just after the race, it got under the Texan’s skin.<\/p>\n

“Who was the first one there to hug him? Mauro Gianetti!” Armstrong sighs, referring to the team manager of UAE Emirates-XRG. “Ah, come on. He says ‘I told you so, I told you so’. Give me a break, honestly,” says the irritated American.<\/p>\n

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