Richie Porte put this World Championship in the past, looking ahead to Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastonge-Liège. The Australian rider admitted that the hilly Imola circuit suited his compatriot Michael Matthews, who was happy to support his seventh place finish behind winner Julien Alaphilippe (France).

"It was a very hard world," Port said in a post-race interview.

"Michal drove a great race. He had a great run. It's good to be able to finish such a hard race because I want to be in Tokyo next year."

Porte started the elite men's road race just one week after finishing third overall in the Tour de France. He joined Simon Clark, Luke Durbridge, Chris Hamilton, Jai Hindley, Damien Howson, and Nick Schultz on the Australian national team to support Matthews.

Matthews finished third in Milan-San Remo with an injured hand, but was disappointed not to be selected for Sunweb's Tour de France squad. However, he regretted not being selected to represent Sunweb in the Tour de France. Matthews then won the Bretagne Classic and competed in the Tirreno-Adriatico before the World Championships.

The challenging 258-km (9-lap) circuit starts and finishes at the Enzo e Dino Ferrari International Outdromo. The circuit has two steep climbs, Mazzolano and Cima Gallisterena, and the race was, as expected, decided on the final climb of the Gallisterena.

Switzerland's Marc Hirschi set a fast pace on the descent, and a small elite group including Alaphilippe, Wout Van Aert (Belgium), Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland), Primosz Roglic (Slovenia), and Jakob Fuglsang (Denmark) formed. Alaphilippe was the lone world champion, while Van Aert and Hirschi took the silver and bronze medals.

Porte was separated on the climb, and Matthews was part of the second chase group, finishing the sprint in seventh place.

"It was a long day, super hard," Porte said. Alaphilippe won after a good pace by Switzerland's Marc Hirsch [on the final climb]."

Matthews has not finalized his race program for the rest of the season, but will leave SubWebb and return to Mitchelton Scott in 2021. Porte, who is moving from Trek Segafredo to Ineos Grenadiers, said he is looking forward to more opportunities for Matthews to race next year, especially at the World Championships in Flanders, Belgium.

"Michael hasn't raced much this year, but I'm looking forward to giving him the opportunity he deserves next year at Mitchelton Scott. He is one of the best riders on these circuits and I think he will come back next year with fire in his belly."