Italy's Paolo Bettini capped a turbulent week by retaining his rainbow jersey at the world championships in Stuttgart.

After the field had been whittled down to just five riders over a dramatic final lap, Bettini reacted immediately to Alexandr Kolobnev, who launched the sprint with 250 metres remaining, and powered through to defend his world title.

Home favourite Stefan Schumacher was third, with Frank Schleck and Cadel Evans just outside the podium spots.

The race had started at a leisurely pace with the peloton content to allow Stephane Auge (France) and Marlon Perez Arango (Colomia) to pull clear early on, and those were soon joined by Russia Sergei Kolosnikov.

As they were slowly reeled in by the bunch a counter-attack developed with a bunch of over 40 riders catching the peloton by surprise and breaking clear. As the group, including George Hincapie (USA), Carlos Sastre (Spain) and Damiano Cunego (Italy) moved clear, the Dutch team, who had missed the boat entirely, slowly began to mobilize at the front of the peloton.

A leg-sapping chase ensued, and ended only due to the lack of leadership and decisiveness in the counter-attack, with Germany's Jens Voigt unable to inspire his fellow escapees to put their heads down and work with him.

No sooner had the group come back together, than another sizeable attack was launched, with 30 riders including Juan Antonio Flecha (Spain), Alessandro Ballan and Cunego (Italy), and Voigt in the mix again, while the Dutch were left once again to keep the lead manageable at the front of the pack.

Ukrainian Ruslan Podgornyy launched a spirited though short-lived attack off the front of the lead group, before an Australian trio moved to the front of the pack to keep the gap below the one-minute mark.

Britain's Mark Cavendish was dropped and finally climbed off his bike with four laps to go as the tempo rose in both the peloton and the lead group, where Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen was doing his level best to maintain the gap.

The Australians, together with a helping hand from the Spaniards, finally brought the field back together, until Davide Rebellin attacked alongside Kolobnev with just over two laps remaining.

The pair built up a lead that grew to 35 seconds, though the Spanish team soon moved immediately to the front to reel them back in, with 16 kilometres remaining.

Repeated attacks from the likes of Fabian Wegmann and Philippe Gilbert whittle the field down to an elite 15 riders, and then another huge burst from Bettini saw all but five remain.

Aware that they stood little chance in a sprint, Evans and Schleck repeatedly tried to jump clear of the others, though Bettini and Schumacher shadowed their every move.

Manuel Beltran tried desperately to bring the chasing group back into contention as the leaders engaged in their tactical battles, though it became clear it would be to no avail as the leaders entered the final kilometre.

With neither Bettini nor Schumacher keen to make the first move, it was left to Kolobnev to launch the sprint. Nobody, though, could live with Bettini's response.

Results:

1. Paolo Bettini (Italy) 6 hrs 44 mins 43 secs

2. Alexandr Kolobnev (Russia) same time

3. Stefan Schumacher (Germany)

4. Fraenk Schleck (Luxembourg)

5. Cadel Evans (Australia)

6. Davide Rebellin (Italy) +6 secs

7. Samuel Sanchez (Spain) +8"

8. Philippe Gilbert (Belgium)

9. Fabian Wegmann (Germany)

10. Martin Elmiger (Switzerland)

11. Thomas Dekker (Netherlands)

12. Michael Boogerd (Netherlands) +14"

13. Bjoern Leukemans (Belgium) +15"

14. Oscar Freire (Spain) +49"

15. Aliaksandr Kuchynski (Belarus)

16. Alexandre Usov (Belarus)

17. Beat Zberg (Switzerland)

18. Erik Zabel (Germany)

19. Thor Hushovd (Norway)

20. Radoslav Rogina (Croatia)

MF / Eurosport