Brandon McNulty, Pogacar's hit man

In the 2022 Tour de France the American climber Brandon McNulty was the unsung hero of the mountain - here’s an extract from a chat we had a while back.

ST; You were Junior Time Trial World Champion, had you set out and focussed on time trails from the get go, or were you all-rounder?

BM; When I was a junior I think I was an all-rounder. But, when you’re in the juniors you just have to be strong and you’re good in time trials. It’s a bit different in the U23 and elites, but I was always good at time trials as a junior, and that year I really put a focus on the World Championships.

ST; Most people would consider you as a climber, which is very different in its demands to time trialing. At what point did you find that you had a gift for going uphill?

BM; I’ve always teetered between TT’s and climbing. I’m kind of at that sweet spot in my weight where I can put out a lot of power on the flat, but I’m also light enough that the Watts per a Kg works on the climbs.

I would say that normally, I guess that what I need to improve on is being able to do both at the same time. I find that if I’m maybe 2kg’s heavier that I can time trial really well, but it’s harder on the climbs. At the Tour I‘m a bit lighter and can climb well, but in the time trail then I‘m not so good.

Right now I’m trying to find that balance and become a GC rider, which is what I think you need.

 ST; You had an amazing stage 17 in the Pyrenees, and all but destroyed the field. Was that planned was there ever the chance of you winning the stage?

BM; The plan was just to try and make the race hard, to see if Tadej could do anything. First the plan was just to pull for 15-20 minutes on the second to last climb, but it altered to just pulling all of the way.

With those 2 still with me (Pogacar & Vingegaard) there wasn’t really the chance to go for the stage. But, in the end it was a super-fun stage to win with him (Pogacar).

ST; From the outside if often seems as though Tadej Pogacar makes his own calls and decisions on the fly, what is that like as a teammate?

BM; He’s definitely super aggressive, and we saw early in the Tour this year. We were doing lots of lead-outs and stuff, which maybe in the end cost him energy – but it was nice to get the stage wins.

He definitely makes the calls, but he usually has the legs to pull it off. When you have a guy like that, who can make a call and do what he wants and pull it off, it’s nice.

I think his mentality is to just go out and race and do the best he can. Whether he wins or not, he’s not super-disappointed or anything. He goes out and gives everything, and it’s motivating to ride with someone like that.

 ST; You almost got to the finish of the Olympic Road Race with Richard Carapaz, can you tell us about that?

BM; I didn’t really know what was going on. I didn’t at all expect to be in that position, and almost going to the finish. I was just trying to stay as fresh as I could, but on the last climbs I was cramping a bit, and I ran out energy in the last moments.

For me it was a bit of a breakthrough, because I was able to recover well and ride. It was the first time I’d managed to ride at the front for so long at such a high level.