Italian national coach Davide Cassani, who helped design the road race course for the World Championships in Imola, Italy, was not to be accused of favoritism. The final steep gradient of Cima Galisterna never favored leader Vincenzo Nibali's chances.

On the final lap, Nibali accelerated on the summit of Mazzolano with 20km to go, drawing the pre-race favorite Wout Van Aert (Belgium) in a four-man group that included Mikel Landa (Spain) and Rigoberto Urán (Colombia).

The attack temporarily sharpened Nibali's hazy vision of a repeat of Vittorio Adorni's victory at the 1968 Imola World Championships. Julien Alaphilippe (France) won the rainbow jersey single-handedly.

Van Aert won a five-man sprint to take second place behind Alaphilippe. Damiano Caruso, also from Sicily, is fresh off a strong showing in the Tour de France.

"I felt good after more than six hours of racing, but I moved early because such a tough climb is new to me," Nibali said in the mixed zone after the race. Van Aat was with me, but he didn't help me.

"I knew the last climb was going to be a bit difficult for me. I've been talking to the riders all week and I told them that, in principle, you have to anticipate the last climb. But the speed was so fast that there wasn't much space."

Nibali, who has had a subdued ride in Tirreno-Adriatico and the Giro dell'Appennino in recent weeks, was unsure of his form before the Giro d'Italia and went into the world championships underestimating his own prospects. Then, five days before the Grande Partenza in Palermo, he expressed satisfaction with his ride.

"I felt better today than I have in previous races. I never felt like that in Tirreno. I feel a little more confident going into the Giro. Today was a real race. Today was a real race, over 260 kilometers and 5,000 meters of climbing. It was the World Championships.

However, the rainbow jersey was contested by riders who finished last weekend's Tour de France, with only Denmark's Jakob Fuglsang (5th) and Australia's Michael Matthews (7th) in the top 10.

"The athletes in the Tour had been accustomed to lactic acid production for quite some time, which is normal after 20 days of long and short climbs and various efforts," Nibali said. Jacob was already doing well in Tirreno. He was better than me in the conditions, so he could have fought for the win today.

"For me it was a good test for the Giro, but I knew before the start that those climbs would be difficult to digest.

With Nibali admitting he was not in great shape and doubting his form, Diego Ulissi was the Italian alternative leader and was expected to be the rider to defend the last lap and the final climb of the Cima Galisterna. However, he seemed to be suffering from a stomach ailment and was unable to fulfill his role.

"We did what we could until the last lap and had a good race together," Ulissi said after the race.

"We knew that a rider like Alaphilippe could do well here. We knew a rider like Alaphilippe could do well here.

Everyone on the Italian team tried to put a positive spin on their performance, knowing that while they had a good run as a team, they ran the risk of being heavily criticized for not being able to participate in the final attack. Filippo Ganna won the world title in the elite men's time trial and Elisa Longo Borghini took bronze in the women's road race, but expectations are always high when a world championship is held in Italy. Especially for Cassani, as the race will be held in his home region of Emilia Romagna.

"You have to give it your all and we did our best," Cassani said, highlighting statistics about the strength of the riders who have raced the Tour de France.

"Only Fuglsang could be in the chosen group of riders. The only chance was to try something on the Mazolano climb rather than wait for the final climb," he said.

"Nibali tried, but he was too fast to get away. The final climb up Galisterna suited an explosive rider like Julien Alaphilippe. I couldn't have done any better."

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