Belgium’s Remko Evenpoel crosses the finish line to win the men’s road race world title
Wollongong (Australia) (AFP) – Belgium’s Remco Evenpoel cemented his victory in the Vuelta a Espana by storming the world road race title on Sunday with a stunning solo run for his first rainbow jersey, vowing a “big party” to celebrate.[expander_maker id=”1″ ]

The 22-year-old finished 2min 21sec ahead of France’s Christophe Laporte after an epic 266.9km (165.4 miles) rally around the coastal city of Wollongong south of Sydney.
Australian Michael Matthews finished third after a last-gasp race ahead of Belgium ahead of race favorite Wout van Aert.

Favorite Dutch superstar Matthew van der Poel abandoned the race early after being accused of joint assault late on Saturday following an alleged altercation with two teenage girls.

Two-time French defending champion Julian Alaphilippe, who has been in chaos for most of the year due to injuries, finished 51st while two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia finished 19th.
“After an amazingly long season to end like this,” said Evenpole, who clenched his fists and put his head in his hands in disbelief after a 6-hour, 16-minute endurance test.
“I’m so glad I had my legs today, it’s something I’ve been dreaming about.”

Evenpoel launched a massive attack 35 kilometers from the finish leaving only Alexei Lutsenko with him, then again went on a climb nine kilometers to leave the Kazakh in his wake.
He entered the 17.2km final lap by 1min 10secs and put his head down in the singles ride to the finish, becoming Belgium’s first winner since Philippe Gilbert in 2012.

Already winner of the Vuelta a Espana World Tour event in September, and Liege-Bastogne-Liege earlier this year, that victory capped a hugely successful season for Evenepoel.
“After a big classic and a world championship, I think I’ve won everything I could have won this year,” he said. “I don’t think I will have another season like this.

“It’s going to be a big party, I guess I won’t see my bed.”
The group headed south with a thorough coastal pass from the start in Helensburgh towards the championship heart of Wollongong.

Once there, they tackled a steep climbing circuit over Mount Kira, culminating at an altitude of 473 metres, before returning to the Wollongong Art City Trail which circled them 12 times.
– ‘Broken’ –
In the warm sunlight and with the fans packed to the side of the road, they got off to a fast start with an early breakaway group that built 95 seconds of lead after 26 kilometers.

The gap stretched to six minutes across Jebel Kira before being cut by 16 players led by Australian Ben O’Connor over a distance of 139 kilometers.
The heavy hitters weren’t among them, with Pogacar, Van Aert and Evenepoel in the peloton conserving power over six minutes.

Gold medalist Remko Evenpoel (C) on the podium after winning the road race world title
But the gap closed because the renegade riders were tired and were caught by a group including Evenpoel 59 kilometers for the cut.

Pogacar, Van Aert and Alaphilippe were more than a minute ahead, and that gap only grew as Evenepoel led the leaders forward before launching his stunning attack that won him the race.
As the riders took off, it turned out that Van der Poel had been arrested the night before, which his Alpecin-Deceuninck team manager Christoph Rudhoft said had left him “a bit mentally wrecked” and that he had left the race early.

Van der Poel told Belgian broadcaster Sporza that the dispute is alleged over “noisy neighbours”.
Police said a man was accused of assaulting two girls aged 13 and 14, but did not give his name, although Rudhoft asserted that Van der Poel had been taken to a police station “to provide an explanation”.
The event brought down the curtain on a nine-day championship that included junior, under-23, senior men’s and women’s races, as well as a mixed teams event.[/expander_maker]