Vuelta champion Remco Evenepoel won the road race of the World Cycling Championships in Australia and will wear the coveted rainbow jersey in future.
The 22-year-old from Belgium prevailed on Sunday after 266.9 km around Wollongong south of Sydney as a soloist and, two weeks after the overall victory in the Tour of Spain, was crowned world champion for the first time.
At the finish, Evenepoel was 2:21 minutes ahead of Christophe Laporte from France and Michael Matthews from Australia. For the cycling nation Belgium it is the first World Championship title in road racing in ten years. Philippe Gilbert triumphed in 2012. Evenepoel had already won bronze in the World Championship individual time trial Down Under.
As expected, the German drivers had nothing to do with the decision. The wait for the first German title holder since Rudi Altig (1966) continues.
Before the start there was a fuss about the Dutch co-favourite, Mathieu van der Poel. After an argument with loud neighbors in the hotel, the 27-year-old was temporarily arrested on Saturday evening (local time). Exhausted, Van der Poel got off his bike after about 30 km.