Roulston finishes in pack, Australian celebrates first world road cycling title

New Zealand rider Hayden Roulston finished in the pack in the elite men’s road race at the UCI World Championships in Switzerland today.

Roulston, who has been out of serious racing since the Tour de France, finished in the third main pack 10m54s behind the winner, Australian Cadel Evans, the first road race world champion from across the Tasman.

The gruelling 262-km race, 19 laps of a circuit around Mendrisio with two climbs each lap, followed typical world championship form with a break gaining a break of more than 10 minutes.

When the action came in the last two laps, Roulston was unable to match the blistering attacks led by the super-strong Spanish team, while team-mates Tim Gudsell and Jeremy Vennell had done their job to support Roulston for as long as they could.

Home town favourite Fabian Cancellara, who won the time trial rainbow jersey earlier in the week, tried his best to break clear but was caught, as was a dangerous nine-strong break.

In the end Evans, not noted as a one-day specialist but had been attentive to follow the Spanish moves, attacked at the base of the final climb 5km from the finish and road clear to win in 6hr 56m 26s.

Russian Alexandre Kolobnev and Spain’s Joaquin Rodriguez settled for second place 27 seconds behind.

Results, UCI Elite Men’s Road Race, 262km:

Cadel Evans (Australia) 6:56.26, 1; Alexandre Kolobnnev (Russia) at 27 secs, 2; Joaquin Rodriguez (Spain) same time, 3; Sammy Sanchez (Spain) at 30 sec, 4; Fabian Cancellara (Switzerland) same time, 5. New Zealanders: Hay den Roulston at 10:54, 96; Tim Gudsell and Jeremy Vennell dnf.