With his fast sprint and good climbing skills, Ramunas Navardauskas was clearly suited to the Worlds course in Richmond but many were still surprised that he sprinted to third to secure Lithuania their first ever Eorlds medal.

"I'm very proud, for myself, I am happy to be third," hesaid at the post-race press conference. "So far this is the best result in a road race for the team. I'm happy I have this, and I'm happy to bring this home to me country, my family and my team.

"The world championships are a one day race, and if you can achieve a medal it's a big thing for you, it can hang on your wall the rest of your life. I think it's better than a stage of the Giro or Tour. It's a bigger event, the world championships is the world championships."

"It was a very hard race, until the last two laps it was always at the back of 50 guys in the front of the bunch, and it was very hard to fight for position. Until the last two laps I couldn't see where I would finish. I thought if they went harder I wouldn't be finishing today. It was a very hard race and in the end I'm happy I was strong enough to come top three."