Sagan takes historic third world championship in Bergen

Peter Sagan came seemingly from nowhere to claim his third consecutive World Championship title at the end of a breathless final lap in Bergen. The Slovakian burst out of the final turn, powered to the front and, in a perfectly executed bike throw, snatched the victory in a photo finish over Alexander Kristoff (Norway), with Australia's Michael Matthews third.

The race ended in a group sprint between 26 riders, after the sizeable peloton fragmented on the final ascent of Salmon Hill. Julian Alaphilippe (France) was the chief animator in the closing stages, jumping clear atop Salmon Hill in the company of Giovanni Moscon (Italy), and he was only finally caught inside the final two kilometres.

When the dust settled in the final kilometre, there was little time for anybody in the leading group to organise a coherent lead-out. Kristoff opted to go early, but with Sagan riding tight to his wheel, the Norwegian may have gone too soon. In the final 50 metres, Sagan turned on his speed and won with a few centimetres to spare to claim his third successive title.

In Richmond in 2015, Sagan was clearly the strongest and soloed to victory. In Doha a year ago, Sagan never missed a beat and was always well-placed near the front. This was a different kind of win. Sagan was nowhere to be seen as the race ignited on Salmon Hill and looked to be out of contention as Alaphilippe jumped clear, but he popped up in the final 100 metres to retain his rainbow jersey.

"It's not easy, guys. For the last 5km I said it's already done. It's gone. After I tried to go in the breakaway, and [Fernando] Gaviria tried to close, it came to a sprint, it's unbelievable," Sagan said, mindful that he had dampened the festive feel in Bergen by defeating Kristoff. "He is racing at home, and I'm sorry for that, but I'm happy to win again. It's unbelievable for me. It's something special for sure. It doesn't change anything, but for me it's something very nice."

Live television production broke down in the closing stages and coverage only resumed deep inside the final kilometre of racing, which added an extra layer of mystery to an already breathless finale. Even Sagan seemed at a loss as to how he made it back into contention to sprint for the rainbow jersey.

"It's very hard to say. You saw on the climb we were already in three pieces or more. The guys from the back, they caught us, and in the front, there was a breakaway, and after that it came together in the finish in just seconds. You can't predict it," Sagan said. "I'm very happy, I have to say thank you for all my teammates in the national team and for some friends in the group - I still have some friends in the group.

"I want to dedicate this to Michele Scarponi, because he would have had a birthday tomorrow. It was a very sad story this year. Second I want to dedicate this victory to my wife, we are expecting a baby. It's a very nice end of the season, and I'm very happy."

How it unfolded

Large crowds and overcast skies greeted the peloton at the start in Rang. Shortly after kilometre zero, Conor Dunne (Ireland) went on the attack and nine riders came with him: Sean McKenna (Ireland), Alexey Vermeulen (USA), Andrey Amador (Costa Rica), Kim Magnusson (Sweden), Matti Manninen (Finland), Willie Smit (South Africa), Elchin Asadov (Azerbaijan), Eugert Zhupa (Albania) and Salah Eddine Mraouni (Morocco). The ten leaders quickly built up a sizeable lead, which yawned out to 9 minutes after 24 kilometres.

The field was happy to let them go and rode behind them at a steady pace during the preamble before the first of twelve laps of the 19.1-kilometre finishing circuit. With 200km still to go, the gap started falling from its maximum extent of 10 minutes, but only in small increments. The peloton was showing a bit more purpose, but was still willing to let the break go with a big gap. The French and Belgian teams shared much of the lead work.

With 150 km to go, the gap was down to 4:41, with Manninen the first to drop back from the break. The gap was down to just over three minutes with 6 laps to go, while the escape shed more riders as the race progressed. Russia's Maxim Belkov was the first to attack from the field, meanwhile, though his lone effort ultimately proved futile, and he was caught with 90 kilometres to go.

At that point, the Netherlands moved to the front of the peloton and their determined acceleration brought the leaders back to within 30 seconds. Smit was the final survivor from the move, but his solo effort came to an end when Julien Vermote – who spent the bones of 100 miles on the front for Belgium – pegged him back. Vermote finished his hard day of work in the worst way, by crashing, though he was able to remount and ride to the pits before abandoning.

Three and a half laps from home, Marco Haller (Austria) sparked a dangerous move when he attacked on Salmon Hill, with Tim Wellens (Belgium) bridging to him on the front. They were joined by Alessandro De Marchi (Italy), Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia), David de la Cruz (Spain), Jack Haig (Australia), Lars Boom (Netherlands) and Odd Christian Eiking (Norway), building a lead of 40 seconds and forcing France and Poland to lead the chase in the peloton.

Nils Politt (Germany) chased with 43km to go but he was unable to catch up, and was reeled back in by the peloton. Several crashes took out top riders on the penultimate lap, meanwhile, as Sebastian Henao (Colombia) left in the medical van, while USA's Tejay van Garderen took a long time to get up after clashing with a barrier.

On the penultimate ascent of Salmon Hill, world time trial champion Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands) showed his hand with a determined acceleration to sowed panic in the peloton but ultimately failed to change break the race apart.

Over the top of the climb, only Haig, Eiking, De la Cruz and Wellens remained at the head of the race, but they were caught with 25 kilometres to go after their former breakaway companion Boom had put in a solid shift at the head of the bunch.

A brief rally from Luis Mas (Spain) fizzled out almost as soon as it began, and a large peloton of almost 80 riders took the bell for the final lap of the Worlds.

With 16 km to go, Paul Martens (Germany) and Sebastian Langeveld (Netherlands) jumped clear, but they were pulled back in the run-up to the final climb of Salmon Hill. Tony Gallopin (France) was the next to give it a try, but he too was reeled in.

A crash at the foot of Salmon Hill took down a number of riders, including Jens Keukeleire of Belgium, but the race was beginning to ignite in earnest up front, as Alaphilippe unleashed a vicious attack that carried him clear of the peloton. Only Moscon could bridge across, and the youthful duo looked like a winning move as they swooped down the other side of the climb.

Behind, some fifteen or so riders, including Gilbert and Van Avermaet, were scrambling to get back on terms, but with gaps opening and closing in the chasing group, it was difficult for them to form a cohesive pursuit. Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus) and Lukas Postlberger (Austria) joined forces to draw close to Alaphilippe and Moscon, but they never quite succeeded in bridging the gap as the road flattened out.

On the cobbled section with 4.5 kilometres to go, Alaphilippe sensed Moscon was flagging, and his rasping acceleration took him clear alone. The Frenchman must have felt it was the winning move, but with the chasing group swelling in size, his task became ever more difficult.

Alaphilippe was caught before the race reached the final kilometre, and a group of 26 thundered towards the finish together. Kristoff unleashed a powerful sprint that looked set to land him Norway's second elite men's world title, only for Sagan to come around him in the final 50 metres to write himself into history.

Final 4 km, shot from heli. #Bergen2017 pic.twitter.com/WPoMxqhHX2

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