Sagan proves to be best of the bunch

PETER SAGAN made cycling history by the narrowest of margins yesterday when he won his third successive World Championship road race title in a hotly disputed bunch sprint.

Five riders, including all-time great Eddy Merckx, now hold the joint record of three road gold medals. But Sagan, 27, is the first of them to win cycling’s most coveted one-day event in three consecutive years.

Sagan had never featured among the leaders of the fastmoving 267km, six-hour race in Bergen. But just when it mattered, the Slovak emerged from under the radar to outpower Alexander Kristoff of Norway by a few, crucial centimetres.

Sagan’s victory culminates a roller-coaster season for the charismatic but controversial star, who was expelled from the Tour de France for a sprinting manoeuvre which saw Mark Cavendish crash out injured.

“Kristoff was racing at home so I’m sorry for him, but of course I’m happy to win. Three in a row is something special for sure,” said Sagan.

“I tried to go with the breakaway and it came down to a sprint. It was unbelievable.”

Rotherham’s Ben Swift was Britain’s best rider in a chaotic bunch sprint, taking fifth. But he recognised Sagan was racing in another league yesterday.

“Sagan was incredible, all of us were trying a couple of moves because it was all over the place before the sprint, but he did amazingly,” Swift said. SMALL MARGINS: Sagan pips Kristoff on the finish line