Sagan wins Tour of Flanders

World champion Peter Sagan has won the first big classic race of the year with a solo victory in the 100th edition of the Tour of Flanders.

Sagan, who claimed the world title last September in Richmond, Virginia won ahead of three-time winner Fabian Cancellara, who was competing in his final Tour of Flanders. Sep Vanmarcke was third.

Sagan dropped Vanmarcke in the Paterberg on Sunday, a brutal cobbled ascent with a maximum gradient of 20 per cent, then resisted Cancellara's return.

Sagan was so strong in the finale that he increased the gap over the former time trial world champion in the last five kilometres of the 255-kilometre Monument race.

The Tour of Flanders is part of a group of five high-profile classics called the Monument that also includes Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Giro di Lombardia.