News | Coppa Agostoni | Team • October 4, 2026
Brandon McNulty races to second place at Coppa Agostoni
American takes runner-up spot in his second race as the reigning world champion, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG well represented in Italy
In just his second race as the reigning world champion, Brandon McNulty took second place at Coppa Agostoni on Sunday afternoon.
The man in the rainbow jersey was on the front foot for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, just as he had been at the Giro dell’Emilia on Saturday. McNulty’s attacking racing had yielded a 10th-place finish in Bologna, but was bettered by his runner-up spot in Lissone.
Raced to and from the Italian city, the Coppa Agostoni was contested amongst an elite leading group on Sunday. McNulty and a handful of other top riders had clipped off the front of the peloton some 93km out from the finish, with the American firmly ensconcing himself at the head of the race with 80km yet to race.
From here to the finish, the peloton behind looked to close the gap but was ultimately not successful. With McNulty and others pulling hard at the head of the proceedings, the day’s honours were battled for from within the front group.
That meant a sprint of six riders, with McNulty doing enough for second place thanks to a handy bike throw. It marks the start of an exciting era for the American, who will be proudly displaying the rainbow jersey as world champion for the full year.
McNulty: “For sure it is still settling in, with the jersey and everything. Today was good, I am still a bit fatigued from last week and also yesterday I went super hard. It was a really hard race and I was happy to be there in the final, and then sprints can go one way or the other, so I am happy with the efforts today.
“It is super special [being the world champion]. I feel like the races pass faster, I don’t really think about kilometres to go anymore. Hopefully that continues! Perhaps it will wear off and I will go back to suffering, but the last two days have been so special. Everybody has been very supportive and I have had so many people come up to me to congratulate me, so I want to say thank you to everybody.”
Coppa Agostoni 2026 results:
1. Paul Lapeira (Decathlon CMA CGM) 3:51:44
2. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t
3. Andrea Raccagni Noviero (Soudal Quick-Step) s.t
