(MENAFN- The Peninsula) DOHA: Slovakian cycling giant Peter Sagan yesterday outpaced arch-rival Mark Cavendish of Britain and Tom Boonen of Belgium to retain his world title on the final day of the UCI World Road Championships.
Sagan, 26, relied on a late surge to cross the finish line at The Pearl-Qatar, edging Cavendish and Boonen in a sprint bunch that saw riders jostling for clearer path to world glory.
Sagan";s winning time was 5 hours 40:43 seconds.
Australia";s Michael Matthews and Italy";s Giacomo Nizzolo completed the top-five riders.
Sagan won his first title in Richmond, Virginia, last year.
'I don";t believe it. I";m still in shock,” Sagan said after the tense finish where hundreds of cycling fans had turned up for the last day";s action.
'I";m very happy because there was a crosswind and I was the last one to make the first group. In the end, it was a sprint so we should see,” he said.
'There was a bit of a headwind so I felt I needed to come from the back. I felt I was lucky because (Giacomo) Nizzolo didn";t close me out. If he closed me out, for sure we would have crashed because I wasn";t going to brake.”
'We should have crashed but I";m happy. It";s unbelievable,” the Slovakian added.
Cavendish was dejected at his failure to prevail over Sagan.
'It was a tough race and I always knew it would be a fight till the finish line. It";s a shame because it";s a race I could";ve won,” Cavendish said.
'I am just disappointed. I messed up tactically. The hard thing was losing (Luke) Rowe to a puncture, which would have given us three in the front and he would have been valuable at the end. I am just going to have to settle for another second this year,” he added.
Boonen, winner of multiple Tour of Qatar titles, said technical issues halted his lunge towards the finish line.
'My team made a great effort in the desert. During sprint, there was a problem with my chain. I couldn";t have won gold, because Peter was too fast. But I could";ve taken second place,” Boonen said.
The day";s action kicked off at Aspire Zone where the riders assembled for the 10.30am start under clear blue skies. A group of seven riders broke free of the starting bunch, reaching a lead of 11 minutes before being finally caught up by the cyclists at the back.
After the first 57 kilometres of riding, Belgian and Dutch riders started to form groups with winds restricting the cyclists.
Despite strong headwinds, Boonen and Greg van Avermaet started building on their sublime form.
With groups forming rapidly, Australian rider Luke Durbridge got knocked off by Fernando Gaviria during a chain change.
Both riders hit the road and eventually signed off from race prematurely. The total number of riders to enter The Pearl circuit was 26, just a minute ahead of the chasing group behind.
The gap between the leaders and the chasers continued to expand until the end when Sagan successfully sealed second world title with a late flourish that left Cavendish and Boonen visibly stunned.
Near the finish line, Sagan went right while Cavendish tried to create his own slipstream on the left. Sagan eventually showed he had more power in his legs.
Sagan";s sudden burst energy at the finish line left Cavendish slamming his handlebars in frustration as the Slovakian celebrated his second world title of his impressive career.
As Sagan raised him arms in jubilation, a small group of Slovakian fans rejoiced with a song and dance sequence close to the finish line.
'I have the biggest group of fans here and I have to thank all of Slovakia because I feel they give me a lot of energy here,” Sagan said.
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