Road World Championships: Anna van der Breggen wins women's road race for rare double

Dutchwoman Anna van der Breggen became a double world champion by winning the women's road race at the Road World Championships in Italy.

She becomes just the second rider to win both the time trial and road race at the same World Championships.

The Olympic champion finished the 143km course in Imola in four hours nine minutes 57 seconds, 80 seconds ahead of compatriot Annemiek van Vleuten.

The 2019 champion beat Italy's Elisa Longo Borghini in a sprint for second.

Van Vleuten was racing just nine days after breaking her wrist at the Giro Rosa and having surgery.

Van der Breggen, who went on to win her third Giro Rosa title, clinched her third world title having also won the road race in 2018.

Britain's Lizzie Deignan, the 2015 champion, was 2:01 back in sixth, finishing in the same time as fourth-placed Marianne Vos.

The only other rider - male or female - to do the world double is Frenchwoman Jeannie Longo in 1995.

"I'm really happy," said 30-year-old Van der Breggen. "I never expected this. This season has been incredible so far."

A group of nine led by 72 seconds after 85km, the end of the third lap, before Vos led an attack from the Dutch team at the bottom of the climb at the 100km mark.

That paved the way for Van der Breggen to open up a commanding lead, which had reached 1:43 heading into the fifth and final lap.