Peerless Pogacar solos to first world road title

ZURICH :Unstoppable Slovenian Tadej Pogacar produced a stunning solo attack to win the men's road race title to bring down the curtain on the world championships in Zurich on Sunday.

Pogacar took off with 100km of the 273-km ride left and won by 34 seconds to add the rainbow jersey to the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France crowns he won this year - becoming only the third man ever to complete the hat-trick in a single season.

The 26-year-old was able to cruise the last 500 metres to the line with his arms raised in the air as he became the first Slovenian rider to win the world title on the road.

His rivals were left to fight for the silver and it was Australian Ben O'Connor who launched out of a high-quality chase group to finish second on the podium.

Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, who won the title last year in Glasgow, took the bronze medal.

Pogacar went off the front of the peloton containing all the favourites with 100km left and, with the help of team mate Jan Tratnik, he bridged across to the early breakaway.

Once alone, he put the hammer down and when he began the last of the seven 27-km hilly circuits around Zurich's suburbs he had a one-minute lead and the rainbow jersey looked to be in the bag.

But he showed signs of suffering as the chasers began to erode the gap and at one stage it seemed he might even have emptied his considerable tank of energy too early.

He recovered though and after powering up the final climb it was clear he would emulate the feat of Eddie Merckx in 1974 and Stephen Roche in 1987.

"I cannot believe what just happened," Pogacar told Eurosport. "After this kind of season I put a lot of pressure on myself for today, pressure from myself and the team.

"We came here for the victory. I maybe did a stupid