World Championships: Kristoffer Halvorsen wins U23 men's road race

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Kristoffer Halvorsen of Norway won the widely expected high-speed bunch sprint to take the under-23 men's world title in Qatar.

The Norwegian and German teams lead out the sprint on the final lap of the twisting Pearl circuit and Halvorsen finished off their work perfectly. He beat Pascal Ackermann (Germany) and Jakub Mareczko (Italy) after staying on the wheels along the barriers in the final kilometre. He kicked past Ackermann and held off Mareczko, who opted to change trajectory and try to win the sprint from behind.

Jonathan Dibben (Great Britain) finished ninth and Colin Joyce (USA) was 16th in the hectic sprint that saw Belgium's Enzo Wouters crash into the barriers.

Greg Daniel of the USA was part of the nine-rider break of the race that was swept up with 10km to go as the sprinters dominated the results.

"It was a very hard sprint but the team did an amazing job and I got the wheel of the German rider, so it was perfect. They were so, so good today, this was a team win," Halvorsen said after hugging and celebrating with his Norwegian teammates.

"I'm just so, so happy. The course was perfect for me, it was flat with a lot of corners, it was a big goal for me this year. It's incredible. My dream now is to win the elite world title, too."

A criterium race

The 166km race included 10 circuits on the Pearl and so was more like a criterium with constant changes of line, sweeping curves, roundabouts and tight corners.

The race started steady but a crash left Italian rider Filippo Ganna on the ground. He would later retire and leave Mareczko without a final teammate for the sprint.

At the first passage through the finish, Pascal Eenkhoorn (Netherlands), Nuno Bico (Portugal) and Amanuel Gebrezgabihier (Eritrea) had a 45 second lead as the break of the day formed gradually. Five riders chased after them, including Daniel to create a nine-rider attack after 100km. Also in the move were Patrick Muller (Switzerland), Bryan Gomez (Colombia), Eenkhoorn, Gebrezgabihier, Bico, Michael O'Loughlin (Ireland), Mahdi Rajabikaboodcheshmeh (Iran), and Jean Cauade Uwizeye (Rwanda).

The peloton let the nine open a three-minute gap but kept them under control with the Norwegian riders doing much of the riding on the front. Russia, Germany, Great Britain, Kazakhstan and Spain also helped with setting the pace on the smooth roads.

Riders grabbed bottles in the two feed zones, often spraying themselves with cold water as well as drinking as much liquids as possible to stay hydrated in the heat.

With 50km to go the peloton began to bring down the gap and Norway and Britain dedicating riders to the task. Gebrezgabihier and then Gomez were dropped from the break as Daniel and the other strong riders tried their hardest to stay away. However, the gap fell to below a minute with 20km to go and was finally swept up with 10km to go.

Two late crashes split the peloton but Norway and Germany lead the bunch to the finish as their nations and their sprinters fought for the best wheels. Ackermann seemed best placed but Halvorsen produced a clever sprint going up between the German and the barriers. He had the kick to accelerate on the slightly rising finish to hit the line first and take the world title.

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