CYCLING: McNulty ends 33-year US drought with road world title

Brandon McNulty emerged the surprise winner of the road world championships title on Sunday in Montreal to end a 33-year title drought for American men in the race.

The 28-year-old put his hands on his helmet in disbelief and pumped his fist after crossing the finish line with a time of 6 hours, 17 minutes and 4 seconds.

Australia's Michael Matthews was second and Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands was third.

McNulty, who won the Montreal Grand Prix last year, launched his attack with 32 km to go and held a 50-second lead heading into the final lap.

He struggled on the last significant climb and saw his lead shrink to 10 seconds with 10 km left but none of the chasers were able to take advantage, with Van der Poel leading an attack with 6.8 km to go that fizzled out.

The absence of two-time defending champion Tadej Pogacar, who is recovering from a crash he suffered last month, left the field open.

The last American man to win the elite road race world title was Lance Armstrong in 1993.

-Reporting by Rory Carroll, additional reporting by Vincent Daheron; editing by Clare Fallon/Reuters