Brandon McNulty pulled off one of the biggest upsets in recent cycling memory on Sunday, soloing to victory at the UCI Road World Championships in Montreal and becoming the first American man to win the elite road race title since Lance Armstrong in 1993, according to the Associated Press.

McNulty, 28, of Phoenix, launched a decisive solo attack 33 kilometers from the finish and held off the chasing pack, using his time-trial pedigree to outlast riders who hesitated on tactics with defending two-time champion Tadej Pogacar sidelined by injury. The win instantly puts McNulty in the same sentence as American cycling legends Greg LeMond and Armstrong, the only other U.S. riders to claim the elite men's road race world title.

McNulty has spent much of his career as a support rider — a "domestique" — for superstar teammate Pogacar at UAE Team Emirates, with career highlights limited mostly to stage wins at the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana. Sunday's win instantly reframes him as a star in his own right.

Armstrong himself weighed in on social media, writing on X that it was "hands down the most exciting race of the year and a deserved winner. A thing of beauty," per Cycling Up To Date.

The victory has set social media abuzz across the cycling world and beyond, with fans and former pros alike calling it one of the most shocking results of the season — a feel-good sports story capping off a wild championship weekend in Montreal.