SYDNEY, Sept. 25 (Xinhua) -- Belgium's Remco Evenepoel took the men's elite road race gold medal on Sunday, the final day of the UCI Road World Championships held in Wollongong, Australia.
The course amounted to a total of 266.9km, comprising 12 circuits of the Wollongong loop, including 3,945m of climbing.
Evenepoel crossed the line in six hours 16 minutes and eight seconds, adding the road race gold to the time trial bronze he had won earlier in the competition.
The 22-year-old Belgian became the youngest UCI world champion since 1993 when 21-year-old Lance Armstrong won in Oslo, Norway, and the second male rider in history to have won both junior and elite titles after Greg LeMond.
"After a super-long season, it's amazing to finish like this," Evenepoel said after the race. "I am super happy about the result. The last climb was super hard. I could feel my legs were going to explode but thankfully it's a long downhill from there."
France's Christophe Laporte won silver, ahead of Australia's Michael Matthews. ■