Nils Eekhoff (NL) finished first in the U23 road race of the UCI Road World Championships on Friday, but race officials stripped Eekhoff of his title and disqualified him for pacing behind a team car in the early stages of the race.

Eekhoff sprinted from an elite group of seven in the rain-soaked Harrogate race, with Samuele Battistella (Italy) and Stefan Bissegger (Switzerland) taking silver and bronze medals.

The race jury officially declared Battistella the winner of the men's U23 world title, with Bissegger taking the silver medal and Britain's Tom Pidcock on the podium with bronze.

Italian TV station Rai reported that Eickhoff's GPS data had sparked concerns from the race judges.

The UCI belatedly acknowledged that Eekhoff, Alexander Konicev (Italy), and Andreas Nielsen (Denmark) had been disqualified for prolonged drafting behind the team car.

Eekhoff crashed into a parked car on the track with around 130 km remaining.