Australia's Cadel Evans finished a disappointing year on a high note by winning the road race of the UCI Road World Championships on Sunday in Switzerland.
Evans, who started turning his pro cycling season around with a third place podium finish at the Vuelta a Espana a week ago, won the rainbow jersey in Mendrisio with a commanding solo charge across the finish line.
He finished 27 seconds ahead of Russian Alexandr Kolobnev and Spain's Joaquin Rodriguez and became Australia's first-ever road World Champion.
Defend the title
After the finish, Evans said he looked forward to defending his title on home soil as the UCI World Championships will be held in Geelong, Australia, next year. As for the victory, Evans told the interviewer, “This course suits me. I think I proved that today.”
The route for the elite men was a 160-mile course that lapped around Mendrisio 19 times. Evans joined an elite breakaway of about two dozen cyclists for the last lap. That group split apart under pressure from Fabian Cancellara, a favorite and winner of the time trial gold medal on Thursday.
In fact, Cancellara and Sammy Sanchez attacked the remaining group of nine men with about 4.5 miles remaining in the race. They couldn't sustain the lead, however, and several other cyclists launched attacks.
Then Evans attacked on the final climb, driving out of the saddle the entire way. Kolobnev and Rodriguez gave chase, but couldn't close the gap.
Victory
This might be the biggest victory in Evans' career. While often on the podium in major races, he rarely has won.
While Evans finished on the podium in the Vuelta this year, even that race was marked by bad luck. On a critical mountain stage, Evans lost more than a minute when he flatted and a neutral support crew couldn't change his wheel.
The race marked Australia's second gold medal in the World Championships this year. Twenty-year-old Jack Bobridge won the under-23 individual time trial on Wednesday.
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