Lotte Kopecky won a second straight world road race title on Saturday, ahead of American Chloe Dygert and Italy's Elisa Longo Borghini.
On a hilly 2024 route around Zurich on a cold and rainy day, a slower than expected pace allowed Kopecky to thrive while Dygert almost stole the title with a late charge from behind after Longo Borghini started the sprint from 250 metres.
The powerfully built Kopecky had been slated as likely being less at ease on the rolling Zurich route than the flatter Glasgow one where she won in 2023.
The 28-year-old Olympic bronze medallist at Paris immediately dedicated her new world title to junior rider Muriel Furrer, who died after a fall on Friday.
"The minute of silence at the start, seeing the Swiss riders crying is just something you don't want to see and I think it's a very hard moment for them as well," said the Belgian.
"First of all, I want to bring my condolences to the family of Muriel."
The race embarked from the pretty town of Uster and raced fully around the nearby Greifensee lake, a well-known hiking and biking destination.
The high-quality road surface of the four-lap circuit around Zurich, featuring plenty of rolling terrain as well as short, steep sections, sparked a series of attacks that whittled down the size of the peloton.
The Dutch team led by Demi Vollering set a high tempo pace, considering the rain, and while she was in the six-rider group sprinting for the line she failed to make the podium having started as favourite to win.
"It was raining and cold and I was already frozen three laps from the end. So I was just trying to remain calm," explained Kopecky, who won Paris-Roubaix's cobbled classic in similar conditions back in April.
"When Demi attacked on the long climb I followed my own rhythm. In the end it was a war of nerves."
Vollering finished fifth after being pipped by an agonising four seconds to the Tour de France title this season, leaving her saying she felt "sour".
Vollering had dropped Kopecky with 17km to go, but due to the large number of riders still together the lead group failed to form a working agreement to distance the Belgian.
One of the surprise drop-outs was Olympic mountain bike champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, the Frenchwoman opting to climb back into the team bus after the first lap of Zurich.
Tour de France winner Kasia Niewiadoma also dropped out early.
Earlier on Saturday, International Cycling Union (UCI) chief David Lappartient urged fans to await a police report on Furrer, who died after a fall on rain-slicked roads during the junior race.
"I will not comment directly about this because there are ongoing investigations from the police, that's their job, I can't answer," said the UCI president.
"Everybody has their mission when it comes to an accident like this, it's up to the police to establish everything."