Ireland's Ben Healy came home in 10th place in an impressive showing in the road race world championships in Montreal, in which Brandon McNulty of the United States emerged as the surprise winner.
Healy was unable to replicate his bronze medal showing in last year's race but was well in contention among the leading pack but fell away in the closing stages.
The 28-year-old McNulty put his hands on his helmet in disbelief and pumped his fist after crossing the finish line with a time of 6 hours, 17 minutes and 4 seconds.
Australia's Michael Matthews was second and Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands was third.McNulty, who won the Montreal Grand Prix last year, launched his attack with 32 km to go and held a 50-second lead heading into the final lap.
He struggled on the last significant climb and saw his lead shrink to 10 seconds with 10 km left but none of the chasers were able to take advantage, with Van der Poel leading an attack with 6.8 km to go that fizzled out.
The absence of two-time defending champion Tadej Pogacar, who is recovering from a crash he suffered last month, left the field open.The last American man to win the elite road race world title was Lance Armstrong in 1993.
