France's Francois Pervis reacts after placing second in the men's keirin 2nd round at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines on February 19, 2015 (AFP Photo/Loic Venance)

Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (France) (AFP) - France's Francois Pervis retained his keirin title at the World Track Cycling Championships near Paris on Thursday.

It was the 30-year-old's fifth world title in total having won three gold medals last year in Cali.

He produced a blistering last lap to win clearly ahead of New Zealand's Edward Dawkins with Azizulhasni Awang of Malaysia in third.

"I'm relishing this. It only happens once in a lifetime. It's a home world championship," said Pervis, who can still win two more gold medals in the sprint and 1km time-trial.

"I had a title to defend, to be honest my worlds are already a success. Anything can happen now, it wouldn't matter."

Former world champions Shane Perkins (2011) of Australia and Britain's Jason Kenny (2013) crashed out in the qualifying rounds while Germany's Maximilian Levy (2009) managed only fourth.