SYDNEY - Remco Evenepoel concluded a magnificent season with a solo breakaway to win the road race world title on Sunday, adding the rainbow jersey to his triumphs in the Vuelta a Espana and the Liege-Bastogne-Liege Monument classic.

Two weeks after giving Belgium its first Grand Tour champion in 44 years at La Vuelta, the 22-year-old Evenepoel gave his country its first road race world champion in a decade since Philippe Gilbert won in Valkenburg.

Evenepoel rode the last 25km of the 266.9km race on his own, crossing the line with his fists pumping at the beach in the centre of the Australian coastal city of Wollongong in 6hr 16min 8sec.

"It's something I've been dreaming of and now after a Monument, a big classic, a Grand Tour and now world champion, I think I've won everything I could this year," he said. "I don't think I will ever have a better season than this. I'm not going to see my bed tonight."

Christophe Laporte of France won a sprint for second place, 2min 21sec behind the winner, while Michael Matthews of Australia took third place.

Big crowds thronged the streets of Wollongong, where the riders completed 12 laps of a 17km loop in the spring sunshine to conclude the week-long UCI Road World Championships.

They had plenty to cheer early on as Australians Ben O'Connor and Luke Plapp joined a breakaway of 16 riders which built a lead over the peloton of up to seven minutes. The race favourites were all tucked into the main pack until Evenepoel joined a handful of riders who chased down the breakaway.

The Vuelta champion made his move to the front with 32km to go and rode Kazakh Alexey Lutsenko, the only rider to go with him, off his wheel up a climb 7km later.

"I felt quite quickly that I was stronger than Alexey and I wanted to go alone because there's no time to waste on a circuit like this," said Evenepoel, who also won a bronze at last weekend's time trial.

"The last climb was super hard and my legs exploded but... it's the world championship, you just want to win the jersey."

Evenepoel shared a hug at the end with compatriot and green jersey winner at this year's Tour de France, Wout van Aert, who finished second in 2020 but had to settle for fourth on Sunday after being edged out of the medals in the final sprint.

Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe, who was chasing a third straight title despite dislocating his shoulder at La Vuelta, finished well off the pace some three minutes behind the winner.

Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel, one of the favourites, dropped out 30km into the race after being arrested in Sydney and charged with assault on Saturday.

"I went to bed early and many children in the hallway of my room found it necessary to knock on the door continuously," van der Poel said.

"After a few times, I was done with it. I didn't ask so nicely to stop. Then the police were called and I was taken. I wasn't back in my room until 4am. That's certainly not ideal. It's a disaster, but I can't change anything any more."

New South Wales police confirmed an arrest had been made at the Grand Parade Hotel, just south of Sydney Airport.

A statement read: "He (van der Poel) was allegedly involved in a verbal altercation with two teenage girls - aged 13 and 14.

"It's further alleged the man then pushed both teenagers, with one falling to the ground and the other being pushed into a wall, causing a minor graze to her elbow.

"Hotel management were notified of the incident, who then called police."

Van der Poel, 27, has been released on bail after being charged with two counts of common assault and will appear at a local court on Tuesday. REUTERS