 Rogers put in another dominant performance to claim the victory |
Australia's Michael Rogers won his third consecutive individual time trial gold medal at the World Road Racing Championships in Spain. The 25-year-old covered the 44km course in 53 minutes 34.49 seconds.
He was 23 seconds ahead of Spaniard Jose Enrique Gutierrez with Swiss rider Fabien Cancellara in third.
Rogers won the 2004 race in Italy, 12 months after getting gold when Briton David Millar was stripped of the title for doping offences.
The win for the Canberra man, who is soon to move to T-Mobile, means he surpasses the achievement of future team-mate Jan Ullrich - the only other rider who has won the time trial crown twice.
"I didn't go easy on the first lap, but I really pushed it on the second," said Rogers.
"It is a really hard course. It was very hard on the climbs and in the second part there was a lot of uphill but I'm going to have a big party tonight."
Briton Bradley Wiggins missed out on a medal after finishing seventh.
RESULTS
1. Michael Rogers (Aus/Quick-Step) 53 minutes 34 seconds
2. Jose Enrique Gutierrez (Spa/ Phonak) +23 seconds
3. Fabian Cancellara (Swi/ Fassa Bortolo) +24 seconds
4. Ruben Plaza (Spa/ Comunidad Valenciana) +43 seconds
5. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz/ T-Mobile) +1:19 seconds
6. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz/ Credit Agricole) +1:28 seconds
7. Bradley Wiggins (GB/ Credit Agricole) +1:31 seconds
8. Sebastian Lang (Ger/ Gerolsteiner) +1:34 seconds
9. Matias Medici (Argentina) +1:37 seconds
10. Victor Hugo Pena (Col/ Phonak) +1:41 seconds
MMIX
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