Brandon McNulty: I don’t feel burdened by the rainbow jersey, I just feel like I’m trying to honour it

“It’s been super special,” McNulty told the gathered media at the teams presentation in Bergamo the evening before Il Lombardia.

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“Obviously I’m still the same rider. It’s not like I’m all of a sudden better, but it’s just nice to race with a bit of confidence, just to attack and whatnot, it’s been really nice.”

McNulty highlighted out a caveat when it comes to his racing style in recent days. These late-season Italian Classics are, he argued, “always a bit more open and free”. And then there’s the small matter of Tadej Pogačar’s injury-enforced absence, which has not only opened most of these races up to the peloton as a whole but also in terms of the pecking order at UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

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But it seems that the rainbow jersey, which can weigh heavily on some shoulders, is sitting rather lightly on his.

“I don’t really feel burdened by the jersey or anything. I just feel like I’m trying to honour it and just race aggressively.

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“I think it does come with a bit of respect, or space [in the peloton],” he added, “but as I said these races are always a bit more relaxed already, so it might also just be that it’s the end of the year. I guess we’ll see tomorrow in a Monument how it will be.”

For all his racing freedom in recent days, McNulty did give the first indication that this rainbow jersey will be deployed on domestique duty.

“When we have a leader like Isaac [Del Toro] here it changes a bit the tactics,” McNulty said.