LEUVEN: France's Julian Alaphilippe retained his men's road race title at the cycling world championships after attacking relentlessly in the finale of the 268.3 km ride between Antwerp and Leuven on Sunday.

Alaphilippe made the decisive move on the short climb up to the Sint Antoniusberg 17km from the line and never looked back, becoming only the seventh rider to win consecutive titles.

The result capped a remarkable team effort from the French, who shook up the race throughout to wear down their opponents, notably the Belgians as odds-on favourite Wout van Aert ended up finishing empty-handed.

Dutchman Dylan van Baarle took second place ahead of Denmark's Michael Valgren in third.