For Brandon McNulty, competing in the men's time trial as the U.S. national time trial champion this year will make the 2023 World Championships extra special.

McNulty, who returned to racing after an interval of just over a month at the Tour de Pollogne, has more than enough competition in the World Championship TT to be a junior world champion in 2016, a silver medal in the U-23 TT in 2017, and a bronze in the same event in 2019.

McNulty, who achieved his big season goal of winning a Grand Tour stage at the Giro d'Italia in May as well as the U.S. time trial national title, told Cycling News, "Anything from now on is a bonus."

He recognizes that riding 47 kilometers in the World Championships is like sailing in the dark, given that he last rode such a long distance in the same event in 2021. The Tour de Pollogne should be an ideal build-up race for Scotland in August.

"I had a good time at home and a good mental reset. I'm looking forward to getting back to racing and hopefully it will be a good week for the World Championships. [To be honest, I haven't really looked into the TT course yet. But I'm looking forward to it." [The 16.6-km course in Katowice is much shorter than the time trial in England on August 11.

"Thursday is a completely different kind of effort. The race here will take less than 20 minutes and the World Championships will take an hour.

"You still have to warm up and go in with the same mindset. It's always good to ride a time trial bike in a race."

"The last time I did a time trial as long as Scotland was the World Championships in Flanders. But I'm sure I'll be fine"

.

While his first goal at the World Championship TT is a top-10 finish, "it will be a special day," he said, pointing to a wide range of possible winners: [Tobias Foss, Filippo Ganna, Lemko Evenpor, and Geraint Thomas. I don't know if I can see them as rivals or if I just want to be close to them."

Taking the American time trial champion jersey is already a landmark success this year and will boost his morale in August and in every TT he participates in over the next 10 months.

"It's something I've wanted since I turned pro, so I'm really happy to be back and running.

"After the World Championships, I have races in Hamburg, the Deutschland Tour, and Canada.

"It's nice to have such a relaxed finish, but there are more opportunities ahead. Of course, that includes a race in Scotland in less than two weeks.