Rui Costa makes history for Portugal
Rui Costa made his winning move in the final two kilometres of a pulsating finale.
FLORENCE (AFP) - Alberto Rui Costa stunned Spanish rival Joaquin Rodriguez at the finish line of the world championships' road race to become the first Portuguese winner of the coveted rainbow jersey on Sunday.
Rodriguez took an unwelcome silver with compatriot Alejandro Valverde winning bronze at the end of the rain-hit 272.2 km epic that claimed several pre-race favourites as well as the entire British team.
Rui Costa made his winning move in the final two kilometres of a pulsating finale, capitalising on Movistar teammate Valverde's failure to counter and then going on to pip Rodriguez at the finish line.
"This has been a big dream of mine for a long time. I still can't believe I'm the world champion," said Rui Costa, who broke down in tears on the podium.
"Two kilometres from the finish Rodriguez held a certain advantage but I still had to choose the right moment to make the jump and catch him, and then to try and outsprint him."
The 26-year-old Portuguese caught Rodriguez with less than 200 metres to go, at which point the Spanish climbing specialist employed the only remaining means, conversation, to overcome the Portuguese's faster finish on the flat.
"When I spoke to him, I was simply trying to make him move in front of me so that I could get in behind him," said Rodriguez. "But we know each other well, and I knew it wasn't going to happen."
A protagonist late in the final lap when he crucially countered an attack by Italian Vincenzo Nibali on the second of the circuit's three climbs, Rodriguez was understandably distraught at the end.
"Winning is all that matters so this medal doesn't mean anything to me right now," he added. "Alejandro and I have a lot of career wins but we've both missed out on winning the worlds."
Spain's failure to capitalise on their favourable scenario will cause reverberations, especially in light of a maiden triumph in one of cycling's biggest races of the year by neighbours Portugal.
Valverde and Rui Costa also race for the same professional team, Movistar, and the Spaniard is often a rival of Rodriguez's on the hilly one-day classics during the normal racing season.
Nibali had to settle for fourth after valiantly fighting back from a crash after the descent of the first climb on the 10th and last lap of the race's hilly 16.9 km circuit around Florence.
Rui Costa, who won two stages at July's Tour de France as well as the Tour of Switzerland, succeeds Philippe Gilbert of Belgium as world champion.
Gilbert finished ninth, at 34secs adrift, and just ahead of pre-race favourite Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland.
Amongst those who did not finish were a host of big names.
Australian Cadel Evans, Britain's Bradley Wiggins and American Chris Horner were among several riders to abandon prior to the halfway stage.
And the victory hopes of the contenders still in a race described as "carnage" were boosted by the later pull-outs of this year's Tour de France champion Chris Froome and Colombian climbing ace Nairo Quintana.
Only 61 riders from the 208 listed to start came over the finish line.
Evans, a former world champion and Tour de France winner, was one of several riders to come down near the barriers as the peloton chased down an early five-man breakaway in the wet and slippery conditions.
He later abandoned the race and was taken to hospital but escaped unscathed: "Went down early in a big 'bingle'...X-rays show nothing broken," Evans tweeted.
Australia's best finisher was Simon Clarke, who finished seventh and among an 11-strong group that crossed the line 34secs behind Rui Costa.
