Philippe Gilbert is cycling’s new world champion. The Belgian won the 267km mens world road race with a trademark attack on the final climb of the Cauberg.

He was able to hold his lead on the 1.6km flat section before crossing the line first. Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagan was second, while Spain's Alejandro Valverde was third.

Winning the world road race is one of the greatest feats in cycling, second possibly only to a grand tour win. Gilbert will now have the honour of wearing the world champion’s rainbow jersey for the next year.

The course was one of the longest of the season and designed to test the endurance of the world’s elite riders. Taking place in the Dutch province of Limburg the route included ten climbs of the famous Cauberg hill.

In the early stages a strong breakaway group of 11 which included Coppell, Lastras and Cataldo got away. At one point they established a gap of over five minutes.

But the peloton controlled the gap with outgoing world champion Mark Cavendish doing much of the work. He never had any chance of winning on this course. But Cavendish worked hard to help his team mates and make himself visible on his last day as world champion.

The race really came to life with five laps to go when Contador, Voeckler, Gesink, Albasini, Tiernan-Locke, and De Kort broke from the peloton in pursuit of the break. The peloton were still working to bring them and the original escapees back when a crash involving around twenty riders slowed their progress.

Still with two laps to go they were caught, and a new group containing most the main contenders was formed. Though there were more attacks. Great Britain's Ian Stannard and Andrew Talentsky of the USA broke away, gaining around 20 seconds. But they were brought back on the penultimate climb of the Cauberg.

From there It was clear that it would all come down to the final ascent of the famous hill. And that was where Gilbert made his move led by his Belgian teammates. No one could stay with him and in the end his pursuers had to battle for second and third place.

Gilbert will be considered a worthy champion by many.  He was a dominant force in 2011, and is one of the best in the peloton at attacking in the final kilometres of a race.

But he was not a clear favourite to win having struggled for form this year. Recent victories in the Vuelta had hinted at return to his best, nonetheless the win represents a remarkable turnaround for the Belgian who is now world champion for the first time.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Marcus Liddell
Freelance broadcast journalist and UK Cycling writer for Vavel UK.