France, Sept. 28 -- Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar won an epic men's road race at the cycling world championships on Sunday, going solo from 66km out in the 267km slog over the hills around Kigali.

"This fills me with sheer joy," Pogacar said clutching his mascot gorilla, troops of which live in the mountains near Kigali.

Defending his 2024 title the 27-year-old finished 1min 28sec ahead of the Olympic champion Belgian Remco Evenepoel, who crossed the line with his head down cursing his luck.

"I didn't come here for the silver, I wanted the gold. Destiny had other ideas for me," he said smiling later.

"I hit a pothole and my saddle dropped, so I was getting cramps when Tadej attacked," Evenepoel explained.

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