American attacker McNulty seals third GC victory this year and sixth win of the season.
Brandon McNulty on the final podium, with Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain – Victorious) and Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers). (Photo: Sprint Cycling/UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Updated October 5, 2025 12:22PM
It’s been an incredible past eight weeks for Brandon McNulty.
The Arizonan’s run of wins began on August 10 when he took the final day TT plus the overall classification in the Tour de Pologne.
McNulty followed that up with a win in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal and then overall victory in the Skoda Tour de Luxembourg, setting an all-time season record for the UAE Emirates-XRG team.
And now he has sealed two more triumphs, taking stage four of the Cro Race on Friday plus the overall classification two days later.
The 2.1-ranked race concluded in Zagreb on Sunday with a flat 156km road race. McNulty had captured the race lead on Friday and just needed to hang on over the weekend.
He duly did so, finishing safely in the peloton on both days and repeating his overall win of last year.
“We knew the most important day was stage 4, with this hard climb,” he explained, referring to the first category Skitača ascent which came towards the end of Friday’s stage to Labin.
“So we knew we just had to stay safe and take time there.”
He certainly did that, breaking away with 24km remaining and finishing a staggering 1:40 ahead of Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain-Victorious) and Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers).
That put him well clear overall and in a commanding position in the GC.
“The last two days was just about making it through,” he said. “Today was kind of a bit miserable, but in the end it was okay. It was nice to win.”
McNulty ended things on a very high note. Sunday was his final day of competition this year, meaning he can head into the off season on a high.
It has been a fine season for the 27 year old, and one which builds on the incredible success of the UAE Emirates-XRG squad this season.
A standout day for UAE
Brandon McNulty was well wrapped up on a tough final stage (Photo: Sprint Cycling/UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Sunday brought a triple whammy of success. Tadej Pogačar took a dominant solo victory in France, following up on his world championship triumph last weekend with a win in the European championship.
And Adam Yates was best in the Coppa Agostoni in Italy.
He was clear with Carlos Canal (Movistar Team) in the finale but the Spaniard punctured with about 17km to go.
Yates pressed on alone and crossed the line 1.15 clear of Canal, and 2:10 in front of the first big chase group.
“I feel sorry for Canal as we were working well together,” he said. “We went on the climb quite far from the finish and we were working well but obviously he had his puncture so it was some bad luck for him. It would have been a good fight to the line, but I’m sure he’ll bounce back.”
McNulty had to contend with tough conditions in Croatia, with the final stage marked by heavy rain and treacherous streets. He stayed upright and will head away from the country with some strong memories.
Asked what stands out for him, he had one clear highlight in mind from day four.
“Maybe the super steep climb. It was really hard but it was also nice to go solo there,” he said. “It was a good memory.”
All in all UAE Team Emirates now has a staggering 90 victories this season. That’s not including the world and European championships gold medals taken by Pogačar over the past 8 days.
That haul of 90 wins is five more than the previous all-time record, set by HTC-Columbia back in 2009.
And with Pogačar set to line out in Tre Valli Varesine on Tuesday and Il Lombardia next Saturday, that total could climb even further.
McNulty is done for the year, but he’ll be following the news from afar, feet up and rest well earned.