Cycling star Remco Evenepoel has gained redemption for Belgium and capped his historic season with a dominant win at the world road championships.

Australian Michael Matthews won bronze after finishing second in the bunch sprint behind Evenepoel, with French rider Christophe Laporte taking second.

It is Australia’s first medal in the men’s elite road race at the worlds since Matthews won bronze in 2017.

He also won silver at the 2015 worlds.

🌈 REMCO EVENEPOEL 🌈
W O R L D C H A M P I O N #Wollongong2022 pic.twitter.com/0lkWOQSRAe

— UCI (@UCI_cycling) September 25, 2022

The national selectors controversially left out sprint ace Caleb Ewan and based the team around Matthews, who duly delivered for Australia.

A fortnight after becoming Belgium’s first Grand Tour winner in 44 years, 22-year-old Evenepoel became his country’s first men’s elite road race world champion in a decade.

Evenepoel broke away with 25 kilometres left in Sunday’s 266.9-kilometre race and soloed to an emphatic win at Wollongong, pumping his first in elation as he crossed the line on his own.

Matthews was in the main peloton that swallowed up a smaller chase group inside the last kilometre.

The sprint for the minor medals came two minutes 21 seconds after Evenepoel’s win.

SPRINT!

Silver for Christophe Laporte 🇫🇷
Bronze for Michael Matthews 🇦🇺#Wollongong2022 pic.twitter.com/6AiHNp1G0M

— UCI (@UCI_cycling) September 25, 2022

It came a year after Belgium misfired at their home worlds, prompting angry words in the media between Evenepoel and fellow star Wout van Aert.

They promised a united front this time and as van Aert rode in the main group, his compatriot grabbed his chance.

Van Aert just missed out on the podium, finishing fourth behind Matthews.

The last Belgian men’s world champion was Philippe Gilbert in 2012.

The race featured 12 laps of a leg-sapping 17-kilometre finishing circuit at Wollongong.

A fortnight ago, Evenepoel won the Vuelta a Espana Grand Tour and earlier this season took out the Liege-Bastogne-Liege one-day classic.

There was drama at the start of the race when Dutch ace Mathieu van der Poel started but withdrew soon after.

It had emerged that he was arrested on Saturday night and charged with assault.

Police took van der Poel into custody after an incident at the team hotel involving an argument with two teenage girls as he was trying to sleep on race eve.

Michael Matthews 🇦🇺 collects a bronze after a brilliant sprint off 🔥#StanSportAU #Wollongong2022 #RideOfYourLife pic.twitter.com/ZA4SBt3IUc

— Stan Sport (@StanSportAU) September 25, 2022

Early breaks gained as much as eight minutes on the peloton, but they never looked threatening.

Inside the last 70 kilometres a front group featured Australians Ben O’Connor and Luke Plapp, as well as Evenepoel.

As with the Australian women on Saturday, the men were attentive to any dangerous moves and kept Matthews well protected.

O’Connor and Plapp dropped back, their jobs done, leaving Giro d’Italia’s Jai Hindley in the front group.

Inside the last 40 kilometres, the pace ratcheted up and the front group started fracturing.

Evenepoel and Kazakh rider Alexey Lutsenko broke clear and built a small advantage on the second-last lap.

The Belgian ace kicked clear of Lutsenko on the second-last ascent of the tough Mt Pleasant climb.

-AAP