Peter Sagan became the first rider since 2007 to retain his world championship road race title when he perfectly timed his sprint in Doha on Sunday.
The Slovakian, who has won seven Tour de France stages as well as the points classification five times in a row, was on the right side of an early split of the peloton and kept a low profile until the final straight.
Britain's Mark Cavendish and Belgian Tom Boonen, who had both previously won road race world titles, were second and third respectively.
With only two team-mates to help him, while the biggest cycling nations have nine-man teams, Sagan became the first road race rider to retain his rainbow jersey since Italian Paulo Bettini nine years ago.
"I don't believe, I'm still in shock. I'm very happy because when the split happened, I was the last rider to make it in the first group," said Sagan after the 257-km race.
The Irish trio of Sam Bennett, Ryan Mullen and Matt Brammeier did not finish the race.
Bennett’s hopes of a podium were dashed in the desert heat when a combination of factors pushed him out of the winning break, and subsequently out of the race.
Ireland team Manager Kurt Bogaert had predicted the winning move to come after 75km of racing, and Bennett moved smartly to stay with the key riders.
“We knew the move was going to happen at about 75km with the Belgian team, they were talking to the Belgian press during the week," said Bogaert.
"Sam was in the right spot and went with it. Unfortunately, a combination of factors meant he couldn’t stay there.
"He was sick two weeks ago, so in the desert it was hot and dry, and he got overheated.
"He dropped to the second group, which had the Germans in it, who were pushing up the speed because they needed to chase, but Sam got more and more problems with the heat – shivers and everything – I gave him ice, but it was not worth it to continue.
"We made the right decision to stop him, something bad could happen, and he had given everything to be in the first group but circumstance showed it was not possible to continue.”
Mullen, who had finished 5th earlier in the week in the Elite Men’s Time Trial, was pulled out with one lap remaining, as was Matt Brammeier, who suffered three punctures in the race.
The decisive moment happened around 180km from the finish line when crosswinds split the bunch and several top riders were trapped behind.
While Britain and Belgium were on the right side of the split, it was not the case for Germany or France.
Germany's Marcel Kittel and Andre Greipel were dropped, as were France's Arnaud Demare and Nacer Bouhanni.
They would never make it back to the front group, which was controlled by the Belgian and Italian teams.
With two kilometres left, Dutchman Tom Leezer attacked and opened a decent gap before being reined in by the Belgians.
Boonen, the 2005 world champion, launched the sprint slightly too early and there was nothing he could do when Sagan powered past after waiting for the right time to make his move.
"There was some headwind so I stayed in (Italian Giacomo) Nizzolo's wheel. He could have closed the door but he did not," said Sagan.
Cavendish, who won the title in 2011, said: "I was blocked behind (Australian Michael) Matthews. I just took what turned out to be the wrong line and couldn't get that crucial gap."
Next year's edition will be held in Bergen, Norway.
