Holland had a double reason to celebrate on Saturday as Mathieu Van Der Poel and Marianne Vos clinched gold in their respective Men's Junior and Elite Women's categories, both, interestingly, from solo breaks.
For Vos gold in Firenze was her second straight World Championships win in a row and the third of her career. When she blasted away on the Via Salviati climb, around five kilometres from the line, the Dutchwoman revealed herself to be the dominating force of women's cycling.
Those who came closest to stopping Vos in what had effectively been a war of attrition on the 140 kilometre course, Sweden's Emma Johansson and young Italian Rossella Ratto, briefly looked as if they might catch Vos but then eased back and settled into their own duel for the next two spots on the podium. Johansson claimed the silver medal to add to the bronze she took in 2010 in Melbourne in the same event, whilst Ratto netted host nation Italy's first medal of the Toscana World Championships with bronze.
Vos though, had played a masterly game to claim her eighth World Championships medal in a row - three golds, in 2006, 2012 and 2013, and five silvers, from 2007 to 2011. On the fourth ascent of the FIesole, an attack by team-mate Anna Van Der Breggen (who finally took fourth herself) whittled the front group down to eight, and then a lap later on the same climb, Fiesole, American Evelyn Stevens squeezed the front group down to five.
Vos assumed her status of pre-race favourite
However, it was Vos, forcing down the pedals on the Salviati as if her life depended on it, who wrenched her way clear alone - and onwards to victory. The overwhelming favourite before the race, the Dutchwoman's impressive lone triumph made it clear exactly why.
"It's great to be able to defend the title, they always say it's hard to win one but to win two in a row is even more difficult," Vos said afterwards.
"The Italians and the Americans made it a really tough race, but I had great team support and they gave me the opportunity to stay calm and with Anna there I knew I had a chance."
"Anna did a great job keeping the race together, pulling back attacks and that was really important."
"I didn't feel too confident until the last lap although I wasn't at the best on the longer climb, so when I saw that last lap sign I knew it had to be the moment and that I would have to go for it on the steeper climb."
Johansson by Dutch and Italians
"I know Marianne's attack is really strong and I gave it a real try to pull her back when she finally sat back a little," Johansson said, "we did get a bit closer, but I realised it was no good and I had to focus on the second place."
"I was quite isolated from the first lap onwards, and it was a very hard race, riders kept getting shed out he back. When there was a break with three Italian and two Dutch riders, it was difficult, my brain was working as hard as my legs and I think I got the best result possible."
Ratto added: "There were three of us Italians and we decided I should stay on Vos' wheel whilst the other two attacked. Racing in Toscana there were a lot of people supporting me here, getting that result was a dream come true."
Junior Men: Van der Poel lives up to family name
On a great day for Dutch racing, in the morning Junior Men's Road Race was won by Holland's Mathieu Van Der Poel, son of the former famous Classics racer Adri Van Der Poel, thanks to a lone breakaway ahead of Mads Pedersen of Denmark and Albanian's Iltjan Nika.
After dropping France's Franck Bonnamour with six kilometres to go, Van Der Poel had time to grab a Dutch flag from a supporter and drape it around his shoulders before crossing the line three seconds clear. A short margin, perhaps, but enough after Ellen Van Dijk's victory in the women's individual time trial to secure Holland's second gold of the 2013 UCI Road World Championships.
Colombia's Daniel Martinez had led the 140 kilometre race for a long time, but first Frenchman Franck Bonnamour reached the Colombian on the fourth lap of five, then Mathieu Van Poel joined Bonnamour as Martinez finally ran out of steam.
Van Der Poel then managed to open up his own lead on the final lap, shedding Bonnamour on the descent of the Fiesole climb, with a dozen chasers at less than 30 seconds as the Dutchman climbed the steep slopes of the Via Salvati for the last time.