Peter Sagan waves the Slovakian flag above his head (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
A delighted Peter Sagan celebrates his road race victory (Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Huge crowds watch on during the men's road race (Image credit: Getty Images)
Lizzie Armistead checks her medal is real gold (Image credit: Getty Images)
Evelyn Stevens rides past one of the murals on the Richmond time trial course (Image credit: Getty Images)
Tom Boonen congratulates Peter Sagan after winning the world championships (Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Norway's Alexander Kristoff was a big pre-race favourite (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Libby Hill was the place to be for the fans all week (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) contemplating what could have been (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The women's road race podium of Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands), Lizzie Armitstead (Great Britain) and Megan Guarnier (USA) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Lizzie Armitstead and her Great Britain teammates can hardly believe they've won gold (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Lizzie Armitstead was the most consistent rider in season 2015 and was a worthy winner of the women's road race (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Two-time former champion Giorgia Bronzini (Italy) was forced to walk across the line after suffering a mechanical late on the last lap (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Leo Appelt went cyclo-cross during the junior men's road race (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Felix Gall (Austria) won the junior men's road race (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The contrasting emotion of the junior men's road race podium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Clement Betouigt-Suire (France) throws his bike on the line but its Felix Gall (Austria) taking home gold (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Kevin Ledanois' (France) late attack just held off the fast finishing Simone Consonni (Italy) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Kevin Ledanois (France) looks back to see the fast finishing peloton closing in (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The U23 men's road podium of Simone Consonni (Italy), Kevin Ledanois and Anthony Turgis (France) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The U23 French team holds Kevin Ledanois aloft (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The USA team won a medal in the road race for the first time in 21 years with Megan Guarnier (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The Norwegian fans were out in force all week (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Peter Sagan high-fived riders as they finished including Tom Boonen (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Peter Sagan throws his bike away and starts his celebrations (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The moment the race was won when Peter Sagan (Slovakia) powered away from Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Defending champion Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) looking dejected post-race (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tiesj Benoot (Belgium) leading the peloton up Libby Hill where the crowds came out in force (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Michael Matthews (Australia) looking disappointed with silver (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Michael Matthews (Australia) was betting on a sprint finish but not on Peter Sagan successfully attacking (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The men's road race podium of Michael Matthews (Australia), Peter Sagan (Slovakia) and Ramunas Navardauskas (Lithuania). It was the first time all three had made the podium in the elite race (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Peter Sagan getting the rock star treatment from his Slovakia team on the podium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Peter Sagan plays around on the podium, pretending to eat his gold medal (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Peter Sagan (Slovakia) has time to enjoy his victory celebration (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Peter Sagan (Slovakia) checks back to the chasing group in the final kilometre (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
American fans certainly get into dress up (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
France went first and third in the U23 race thanks to Kevin Ledanois and Anthony Turgis (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
There was a subdued celebration from Chloe Dygert as she did the double in the junior women's time trial and road race (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Chloe Dygert (USA) powers to the junior women's time trial title (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The U23 men's time trial hot set can be a tense place (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Mads Würtz Schmidt (Denmark) with his U23 time trial gold medal (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Maximilian Schachmann (Germany), Mads Würtz Schmidt (Denmark) and Lennard Kamna (Germany) made up the U23 men's time trial podium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The start and finish line of the road races (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Of course the American flag was flying (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The finish line straight of the road races (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Daniel Oss and Manuel Quinziato had the strangest podium celebrations of the week after BMC defended its team time trial title (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The entire BMC team and staff on the podium after the defence of its team time trial title (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The team time trial podium of Etixx-Quick Step, BMC and Movistar (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Rohan Dennis driving BMC to team time trial victory (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Boels-Dolmans, Velocio-SRAM and Rabo-Liv made up the women's team time trial podium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Velocio-SRAM won its fourth and final team time trial in Richmond (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Velocio-SRAM riders celebrate winning the team time trial title (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Anna-Leeza Hull (Australia) repeated her bronze medal was 12 months ago in the junior women's catergory (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
A beaming Emma White (USA) celebrating silver against the clock (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Emma White, Chloe Dygert (USA) and Agnieszka Skalniak (Poland) were the junior women's road race podium (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Emma White (USA) celebrates silver in the road race, repeating her time trial result in the junior women's races (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Agnieszka Skalniak (Poland) struggles to believe she's won bronze in the junior women's road race (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Vasil Kiryienka waving the Belarus national flag above his head (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The men's time trial podium featured none of the pre-race favourites as Adriano Malori (Italy, Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus) and Jerome Coppel (France) proved too good on the day (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Three time world champion against the clock Tony Martin (Germany) didn't have the answers to his ride as he missed the podium completely (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands) wondering where he could have made up the time to claim the rainbow jersey (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) takes a minute to fins her breath after finishing second in the women's time trial (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Defending champion Lisa Brennauer (Germany) could only manage third in the time trial (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Linda Villumsen had finished on the time trial Worlds podium four times previous to her Richmond victory. Post race though, all the talk surrounded her choice of bike (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The women's time trial podium of Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands), Linda Villumsen (New Zealand) and isa Brennauer (Germany) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Junior men's time trial champion Leo Appelt with his national flag (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Leo Appelt in the middle of a USA sandwich on the junior men's time trial podium with Adrien Costa on the left and Brandon McNulty on the right (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The junior women's time trial podium of Emma White (USA), Chloe Dygert (USA) and Anna-Leeza Hull (Australia) (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Velocio-SRAM riders cannot believe they've won a fourth title (Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The UCI Road World Championships are over for another year with Richmond playing a successful host 19 years after the first Worlds were held in North America.
In the team time trials, BMC Racing defended its title while Velocio-SRAM won an unprecedented fourth title in what proved to be its last race as a team.
Vasil Kiryienka was an upset victor in the men's time trial ahead of Adriano Malori and Jerome Coppel. In the women's time trial, the focus turned to the bike of choice for Linda Vilusmen who defied team orders to ride a Willier and claimed the gold medal after four previous visits to the podium.
Chloe Dygert and Emma White took gold and silver in the junior women's time trial then doubled up a few days later, repeating the result in the road race. In the junior men's races, Leo Appelt (Germany) was too fast for the American duo of Adrien Costa and Brandon McNulty against the clock. In the road race, Felix Gall (Austria) got the better of France's Clément Bétouigt-Suire on the line as Rasmus Pedersen (Denmark) took home bronze.
The U23 men's road race belonged to France as they claimed gold with Kévin Ledanois and bronze via Anthony Turgis with Simone Consonni taking silver. In the time trial, Mads Würtz Schmidt added the U23 title to his junior men's win ahead of Germany's Maximilian Schachmann and Lennard Kämna.
In the women's road race, Elizabeth Armitstead (Great Britain) proved to be the strongest rider in the peloton as she outkicked Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) and Megan Guarnier (United States of America) for her first rainbow jersey on the road.
The championships concluded Sunday afternoon with Peter Sagan (Slovakia) attacking on 23rd Street and powering away to claim his first road rainbow jersey ahead of Michael Matthews (Australia).
Click here for our full coverage of the 2015 UCI Road World Championships
Click here to subscribe to the Cyclingnews podcast on iTunes and here for our complete World Championships coverage.
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
