Samuele Battistella (ITA) took the rainbow jersey after Nils Ehoff (NL) was controversially disqualified in the men's U23 road race at the UCI Road World Championships.

Ehoff finished first after a tense and dramatic seven-man sprint on the streets of Harrogate.

However, after a protracted race, the race jury decided to investigate the result and ultimately disqualified Ehokov after determining that the Dutch rider had drafted too long behind the team car after a crash early in the race.

It is still unclear why the jury waited until after the race to investigate the incident, but Battistella was quickly ushered to the podium and awarded the rainbow jersey.

"For the first 30 seconds I didn't really know what had happened," Battistella said at the victory press conference.

"They told me I was world champion, that I was number one, but now I understand everything. Now I look at this jersey and the medal and ...... I can't find the words. It's amazing. I'm really happy."

Battistella expressed her happiness with the result, but also expressed sympathy for Ehov.

"I feel really bad for that guy. I don't know him, but he was the winner. But I don't really know what happened with the commissaire.

Asked if he felt like a winner under such extraordinary circumstances, Battistella reiterated his stance. Fans and other pro riders were up in arms about the decision on social media, but Battistella can't blame anything on the fact that the jersey came on his shoulders.

"I feel like a winner. He was disqualified for a reason. I'm sorry for him, but I'm the winner. But this is cycling.

"It was a really difficult decision because it's a world championship. I think that's why it took the jury so long to make the disqualification decision. This doesn't happen every day. That's why it took so long. At first I couldn't believe it, but after a few minutes I had a great feeling. I can't put it into words. I'm the world champ."

The UCI declined to comment further, but later issued a short comment confirming that Ehoff had been disqualified for "sheltering behind or using the slipstream of a vehicle (for some time)" in violation of UCI Rule 2.12.007 Art 4.7.