Kwiatkowski takes gold at cycling world championships

Polish rider Michal Kwiatkowski celebrates winning the Men Elite Road Race during the 2014 UCI Road World Championships in Ponferrada, Spain, 28 September: photo - EPA/JAVIER LIZON

After making a solo attack with 10k to go, the 24 year-old Pole held off Australia's Simon Gerrans in second with Alejandro Valverde of Spain third, to cap off a remarkable season for Poland's pro-cyclists after Rafal Majka became the first Polish winner of the prestigious King of the Mountains jersey at the Tour de France in July.

The 254.8km race, with 14 laps of a 18.2km circuit, was a hilly course suited to one-day classics-style riders such as Kwiatkowski, but the Belgians, Germans, Australians and others brought strong teams to Spain.

Michal Kwiatkowski (C) with second placed Australian rider Simon Gerrans (L) and third placed Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (R): photo - EPA/JAVIER LIZON

“I was feeling great on the last lap and a big thanks to my mates on the first few laps. What they did was just amazing. This is incredible,” a clearly stunned Kwiatkowski said after the strong nine-man Polish team led the peloton in the early stages of the race, keeping their team leader out of trouble and chasing down a break away group.

Kwiatkowski (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) has emerged this season as one of the world's top cyclists, taking the young rider's jersey at the Tour of Britain in September, which came after a breakthrough win at the Strade Bianche in Italy in the spring.

On Friday, Agnieszka Skalniak took the bronze for Poland in the junior women's road race. (pg)