After Annemiek van Grooten's (Netherlands) 100km solo attack on the Lofthouse climb at the World Championships, the Italian team was forced to change its plans to support Tour de Flanders winner Marta Bastianelli in the elite women's road race.

The Azzurri quickly recruited Elisa Longo Borghini, who finished fifth after an "explosion" in the Yorkshire peloton.

"Our leader was Marta Bastianelli, but everything changed when the race exploded in the Lofthouse.

The elite women raced 150 km on a technical and challenging course that took them north from Bradford and back south before three laps around Harrogate's rugged finish circuit. It was a punchy, classic-style course that many expected Bastianelli, Marianne Vos (Netherlands), and Colin Rivera (USA) to excel.

However, van Breuten defied expectations and turned the race upside down with a daring attack on the second climb, the Lofthouse, at the 45km mark. She rode solo for the remaining 100 km to claim a history-making victory in Harrogate.

"Everyone was surprised that Van Vleuten won the race with 100km to go alone," Bastianelli told Cycling News. It was the biggest surprise of the whole race and for the peloton."

"Today was a great opportunity [to win a second world title], but it was a very hard day. It was not an easy race.

"Initially I thought it was possible to arrive at the finale together because of the wind and maybe the peloton could have pushed to close the gap. In the end, no team (in the main group) was ready to do that."

Longo Borghini was part of the chase group behind Van Vleuten, which also included teammate Soraya Paladin. Amanda Spratt (Australia), Lizzie Deignan (UK), Chloe Dygert Owen (USA), Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig (Denmark), Clara Koppenberg (Germany), and defending champion Anna van der Breggen (Netherlands) were also there.

As the chasing pack approached the final circuit in Harrogate, attacks continued and several riders quickly dropped out. Eventually, Van der Breggen attacked with five kilometers to go and won the silver medal with a solo run. Spratt was not far behind, taking the bronze medal.

Daigert Owen, the recently crowned time trial world champion, finished fourth. Longo Borghini stayed in front of the main group at the tail end of the breakaway and finished fifth.

"The World Championships are always special. I'm feeling good right now. That's good," said Longo Borghini.

"The climbs were tough. I had to chase and it was survival for me. I am happy with my performance today. I'm really tired and I feel like I gave everything I had."