Cycling: Thor Hushovd became Norway's first road world champion earlier today, powering clear of a mass sprint to edge out Denmark's Matti Breschel in a dramatic finish.
The muscular sprint specialist timed his run to perfection, hanging back in the peloton as a number of attackers flagged on the steep climbs of the 262.7 km course, before bursting to the front to win by a little more than a bike length.
Ireland’s Nicolas Roche endured a disappointing day, finishing 97th of the 99 finishers while David McCann came home in 68th. Matthew Brammeier failed to finish.
"It's a big dream of course to win big races and especially the world championship, it's something special," the soft-spoken Hushovd said afterwards.
"In the end, coming into a sprint you don't really have time to think if it's possible or not and when I saw I passed Breschel in the last few metres it was just unbelievable and an amazing feeling."
Allan Davis took bronze as a consolation prize for Australia, after champion Cadel Evans' title defence was swamped in the tide of the peloton before the final straight.