A wild, unpredictable race with no clear master, ultimately decided by a long and grueling solo attack from Brandon McNulty, who becomes world champion in Montreal. The American rider exploited his team's numerical superiority in the final, launched his attack 32 km from the finish, and resisted the chase from pursuers who never quite managed to organize a proper pursuit. Behind him, the situation flipped a hundred times over, with all the expected stars trying their hand in one way or another, and in the end 11 riders arrived to contest the silver medal: it was a brilliant Michael Matthews (Australia) who won the sprint on Avenue du Parc, outpacing a generous and aggressive Mathieu Van der Poel (Netherlands). Excellent performance from Giulio Ciccone, among the most impressive on the climbs, but ultimately he got caught up in the battle of the big names and couldn't do better than 9th place in the sprint.

THE RACE - The first breakaway bears the signature of Tilen Finkšt (Slovenia), Andreas Leknessund (Norway), Felix Engelhardt (Germany), Biniam Girmay, Henok Mulubrhan (Eritrea), Jamie Meehan (Ireland), Guillaume Boivin (Canada), Emils Liepiņš (Latvia), Herohii Antonenko (Ukraine), Mihajlo Stolić (Serbia), Christopher Robin Jurado (Panama), Alexandre Mayer (Mauritius), Iustin-Ioan Vaidian (Romania), Andreas Miltiadis (Cyprus), Kaden Hopkins (Bermuda) and Amir Arsalan Ansari (Refugees), who manage to build a lead of up to 8'30" over the peloton.

The gap, however, doesn't concern Bruno Armirail (France), who as the start of the 12-lap circuit approaches sets cruise control and quickly dismantles the advantage. Within 50 km the French rider closes the entire gap, recompacting the group 107 km from the finish. On the fifth climb at Camillien-Houde the attacks begin, first from the French, then from the Italians and Danes. Making a difference proves difficult, so Mathieu van der Poel (Netherlands) and Wout van Aert (Belgium) take action on the Côte de Polytechnique, approximately 90 km from the finish, taking away a nice sextet that also includes Quinn Simmons (USA), Anthon Charmig (Denmark), Oscar Onley (Great Britain) and Primož Roglič (Slovenia). The six manage to build a lead of up to 40", so on the seventh passage over Camillien-Houde Isaac Del Toro makes his move, shattering what remained of the group and bringing along the other big names, including Italians Ciccone, Piganzoli and Scaroni. Van der Poel senses the danger and attacks, bringing Simmons, Onley and Roglič with him, with whom he begins a long resistance effort out front.

Behind there's no great agreement, with Seixas riding on Del Toro's wheel and Evenepoel, after riding defensively throughout, only waking up 50 km from the finish, with Van Aert deciding to put himself at his service. The race proceeds in bursts, with the advantage of the 4 escapees—who become 3 when Onley hits trouble—oscillating constantly between 30" and 50". Ben Healy (Ireland) briefly closes the gap to them, a sign that the pace has dropped, and indeed immediately after the big names also return, always driven by a generous Del Toro 38 km from the finish.

Up front are therefore Roglič, Seixas, Ciccone, Pidcock, Van der Poel, Jorgenson, McNulty, Simmons, Matthews, Del Toro, Buitrago and Healy, with the USA immediately capitalizing on their numerical superiority, first dropping Jorgenson, who is neutralized, and then McNulty, winner of the GP de Montreal two years ago. The UAE rider's move is the right one, because his opponents look at each other and he begins the penultimate lap with 1'08", also thanks to the blocking action from Jorgenson and Simmons.

The race proceeds in attacks, Pidcock is the most decisive, and with him the best version of Ciccone, who responds blow for blow and even tries on his own. Throughout all this Remco Evenepoel, certainly having an off day, sinks and resurfaces continuously, arriving at the end with the first chase group but without the legs to contest the sprint. Seixas doesn't make it, consumed by cramps in the final.

McNulty holds on and wins, keeping the rainbow jersey in the UAE team and securing a triumph that defines a career, and perhaps even more.

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FINAL RESULTS

1 Brandon McNulty États-Unis 6h17'04"
2 Michael Matthews Australie 13"
3 Mathieu Van der Poel Pays-Bas 13"
4 Quinn Simmons États-Unis 13"
5 Isaac Del Toro Mexique 14"
6 Mads Pedersen Danemark 14"
7 Tom Pidcock Grande-Bretagne 14"
8 Matteo Jorgenson États-Unis 14"
9 Giulio Ciccone Italie 14"
10 Ben Healy Irlande 14"
11 Mauro Schmid Suisse 22"
12 Remco Evenepoel Belgique 25"
13 Juan Ayuso Espagne 2'08"
14 Stefan Küng Suisse 2'19"
15 Paul Seixas France 2'47"
16 Jorgen Nordhagen Norvège 3'09"
17 Oscar Onley Grande-Bretagne 3'09"
18 Christian Scaroni Italie 3'12"
19 Mikkel Honoré Danemark 3'14"
20 Davide Piganzoli Italie 3'20"
21 Primoz Roglic Slovénie 3'29"
22 Michael Valgren Danemark 4'20"
23 Toms Skujins Lettonie 4'25"
24 Anthon Charmig Danemark 4'25"
25 Tiesj Benoot Belgique 4'31"
26 Pavel Sivakov France 4'37"
27 Santiago Buitrago Sanchez Colombie 4'41"
28 Wout Van Aert Belgique 5'11"
29 Maxim Van Gils Belgique 5'11"
30 Andreas Lorentz Kron Danemark 5'46"
31 Adam Yates Grande-Bretagne 6'37"
32 Michael Leonard Canada 6'39"
33 Tobias Halland Johannessen Norvège 6'48"
34 Guillermo Thomas Silva Coussan Uruguay 6'48"
35 Michael Woods Canada 6'48"
36 Jhonatan Narvaez Equateur 6'48"
37 Aleksandr Vlasov Athlète individuel neutre 6'48"
38 Georg Zimmermann Allemagne 6'48"
39 Byron Munton Afrique du Sud 6'48"
40 Michael Storer Australie 6'48"
41 Menno Huising Pays-Bas 6'51"
42 Jack Haig Australie 6'53"
43 Igor Arrieta Lizarraga Espagne 6'53"
44 Nicolas Prodhomme France 6'53"
45 Nickolas Zukowsky Canada 6'53"
46 Marcel Camprubi Pijuan Espagne 7'02"
47 Florian Lipowitz Allemagne 7'04"
48 Riley Sheehan États-Unis 10'00"
49 Corbin Strong Nouvelle-Zélande 10'00"
50 Michal Kwiatkowski Pologne 10'00"
51 Tobias Foss Norvège 10'00"
52 Embret Svestad-Bardseng Norvège 10'00"
53 Jai Hindley Australie 10'00"
54 Felix Grossschartner Autriche 10'00"
55 Lorenzo Mark Finn Italie 10'00"
56 Nelson Oliveira Portugal 13'11"
57 Lawrence Warbasse États-Unis 15'35"
58 Ivo Oliveira Portugal 15'35"

Ab. Maral-Erdene Batmunkh Mongolie
Ab. Darren Rafferty Irlande
Ab. Ivan Romeo Abad Espagne
Ab. Eder Frayre Moctezuma Mexique
Ab. Edgar David Cadena Martinez Mexique
Ab. Henok Mulueberhan Erythrée
Ab. Jamie Meehan Irlande
Ab. Kevin Vermaerke États-Unis
Ab. Piotr Pekala Pologne
Ab. Luke Tuckwell Australie
Ab. Henrique Da Silva Avancini Brésil
Ab. Merhawi Kudus Erythrée
Ab. Gal Glivar Slovénie
Ab. Carlos Verona Quintanilla Espagne
Ab. Artem Shmidt États-Unis
Ab. Mateusz Gajdulewicz Pologne
Ab. Matevz Govekar Slovénie
Ab. Ben O'Connor Australie
Ab. Kaden Hopkins Bermudes
Ab. Enric Mas Nicolau Espagne
Ab. Sean Quinn États-Unis
Ab. Biniam Girmay Erythrée
Ab. Markel Beloki Fernandez Espagne
Ab. Jakub Kaczmarek Pologne
Ab. Alexandre Mayer Ile Maurice
Ab. Heorhii Antonenko Ukraine
Ab. Tilen Finkšt Slovénie
Ab. Raùl Garcia Pierna Espagne
Ab. Cristofer Jurado Lopez Panama
Ab. Matej Mohoric Slovénie
Ab. Jan Tratnik Slovénie
Ab. Jo Hashikawa Japon
Ab. Nicholas Narraway Bermudes
Ab. Vicente Rojas Naranjo Chili
Ab. Jose Antonio Escarcega Mendizabal Mexique
Ab. Ulises Alfredo Castillo Soto Mexique
Ab. Juan Mardoqueo Vasquez Vasquez Guatemala
Ab. You Li Chine
Ab. Baptiste Poulard Thaïlande
Ab. Luka Mezgec Slovénie
Ab. Nikiforos Arvanitou Grèce
Ab. Manuel Rodas Ochoa Guatemala
Ab. Carlos Alfonso Garcia Trejo Mexique
Ab. Oussama Abdellah Mimouni Algérie
Ab. Samandar Janikulov Ouzbékistan
Ab. Fredd Matute Honduras
Ab. Ryan Mullen Irlande
Ab. Vladimir Kovacik Slovaquie
Ab. Luis Daniel Oses Costa-Rica
Ab. Ali Al Shaikhahmed Arabie Saoudite
Ab. Harold Tejada Colombie
Ab. Fred Wright Grande-Bretagne
Ab. Callum Thornley Grande-Bretagne
Ab. Mark Donovan Grande-Bretagne
Ab. James Shaw Grande-Bretagne
Ab. Sergio Andrés Higuita Garcia Colombie
Ab. Emils Liepins Lettonie
Ab. Nairo Quintana Colombie
Ab. Brandon Rivera Colombie
Ab. Madis Mihkels Estonie
Ab. Finlay Pickering Grande-Bretagne
Ab. Mihajlo Stolic Serbie
Ab. Nadav Raisberg Israël
Ab. Attila Valter Hongrie
Ab. Andreas Miltiadis Chypre
Ab. Iustin-Ioan Vaidian Roumanie
Ab. Anton Kuzmin Kazakhstan
Ab. Daniil Marukhin Kazakhstan
Ab. Martin Pluto Lettonie
Ab. Kristians Belohvosciks Lettonie
Ab. Kohath Baron Dominique
Ab. Maximilian Schachmann Allemagne
Ab. Marco Brenner Allemagne
Ab. Jakob Söderqvist Suède
Ab. Felix Engelhardt Allemagne
Ab. Nico Denz Allemagne
Ab. Derrick Chavarria Belize
Ab. Marc Hirschi Suisse
Ab. Pier-André Côté Canada
Ab. Hugo Houle Canada
Ab. Jordan Labrosse France
Ab. Alex Baudin France
Ab. Jordan Jegat France
Ab. Patrick Konrad Autriche
Ab. Jan Christen Suisse
Ab. Mathias Vacek République tchèque
Ab. Laurence Pithie Nouvelle-Zélande
Ab. Felix Gall Autriche
Ab. Valentin Paret-Peintre France
Ab. Fabio Christen Suisse
Ab. Stefan Bissegger Suisse
Ab. Ben Oliver Nouvelle-Zélande
Ab. Bruno Armirail France
Ab. Guillaume Boivin Canada
Ab. Victor Langellotti Monaco
Ab. Pavel Novak République tchèque
Ab. Jakub Otruba République tchèque
Ab. Quinten Hermans Belgique
Ab. Gianni Vermeersch Belgique
Ab. Thibau Nys Belgique
Ab. Alec Segaert Belgique
Ab. Kasper Asgreen Danemark
Ab. Søren Kragh Andersen Danemark
Ab. Mikkel Bjerg Danemark
Ab. Alberto Bettiol Italie
Ab. Antonio Morgado Portugal
Ab. Anders Skaarseth Norvège
Ab. Andreas Leknessund Norvège
Ab. Giulio Pellizzari Italie
Ab. Andrea Mifsud Malte
Ab. Tiago Antunes Portugal
Ab. Arno Wallenborn Luxembourg
Ab. João Almeida Portugal
Ab. Matteo Trentin Italie
Ab. Mattia Cattaneo Italie
Ab. Afonso Eulalio Portugal
Ab. Bart Lemmen Pays-Bas
Ab. Daan Hoole Pays-Bas
Ab. Bauke Mollema Pays-Bas
Ab. Tim Van Dijke Pays-Bas
Ab. Pascal Eenkhoorn Pays-Bas
Ab. Mathijs Paasschens Pays-Bas
Ab. Amir Arslan Ansari Équipe des réfugiés

NP. Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier Erythrée
NP. Wilmar Paredes Colombie
NP. Gil Landim Gomes Guinée-Bissau