Belgium's Philippe Gilbert wins world road race title

Belgium's Philippe Gilbert produced a scintillating burst of speed to win the world road race in the Netherlands.

The 30-year-old attacked on the last of 11 ascents of the Cauberg after 269km of racing on an undulating course.

Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen was second, four seconds behind, with Spain's Alejandro Valverde third.

Britain's Jonathan Tiernan-Locke was 19th, five seconds adrift, while 2011 winner Mark Cavendish quit through exhaustion with 110km to go.

Sprinter Cavendish had already indicated that the hilly terrain meant he had no chance of winning the race but the outgoing world champion put in a tremendous stint for his British team-mates, controlling the pace of the peloton for around 100km after 11 riders established a break.

Cavendish's selfless work allowed Tiernan-Locke in particular, among his team-mates, the chance to conserve energy by riding in the peloton.

He eventually tailed off after completing three of the 10 16km circuits that made up the closing 160km of the race.

"I'm more tired after 140km than after 250km last year," Cavendish conceded.

His British team-mates Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome, who were first and second in this year's Tour de France, also failed to finish the race, pulling out after five laps.

However, Ian Stannard, Ben Swift, Luke Rowe and Steve Cummings all continued to help Tour of Britain champion Tiernan-Locke to keep pace with the leaders.

As the laps ticked down, Tiernan-Locke tracked more experienced riders such as Alberto Contador of Spain, who was riding to try to set up Valverde, up the 1,200m-long Cauberg hill which had to be negotiated towards the end of each lap.

The 27-year-old Brit was well-placed going into the final ascent but Gilbert's experience of the hill - he has twice won the Amstel Gold one-day race which finishes at its summit - paid dividends as he blew the race apart with a devastating burst.

As Gilbert rode away from the field over the summit of the Cauberg, Boasson Hagen, Valverde and Russia's Alexander Kolobnev appeared more concerned with each other than trying to catch the leader who still had more than 1km to race.

"I've won some big one-day races in my career but this is so special," Gilbert, who won in six hours, 10 minutes and 41 seconds, told BBC Sport. "I now get to wear the rainbow jersey every day for 12 months."

Tiernan-Locke finished in the main bunch of riders just five seconds behind Gilbert to earn the plaudits of GB performance director Dave Brailsford.

"it was a brilliant performance by the team in its entirety," he said.

"The older generation decided to take the work on early doors and then the younger guys - Rowe, Swift and Stannard - continued that on.

"Hats off to Jon Tiernan-Locke. It is the longest race he has ever competed in and he showed great confidence and maturity when he went with Contador in that move.

"It was a fantastic performance and it bodes well for the future. The priority now will be to get him in more big races and competing at this level in future."

Standings:

1. Philippe Gilbert (Bel) 6:10:41"

2. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) +4"

3. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) +5"

4. John Degenkolb (Ger)

5. Lars Boom (Ned)

6. Allan Davis (Aus)

7. Thomas Voeckler (Fra)

8. Ramunas Navardauskas (Lit)

9. Sergio Henao (Col)

10. Oscar Freire (Spa)

Selected others:

19. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (GB) +5"

36. Ian Stannard (GB) +53"

60. Ben Swift (GB) +2'21"

70. Stephen Cummings (GB)

88. Luke Rowe (GB) +5'46"

Did not finish: Mark Cavendish, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome, Alex Dowsett (all GB)