Image 1 of 42 World Champion, Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands), happily shows off her gold medal (Image credit: CJ Farquharson) Image 2 of 42 Linda Villumsen (New Zealand), third, bronze medal. World Champion, Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands), gold medal, Carmen Small (United States) was third, bronze medal (Image credit: CJ Farquharson) Image 3 of 42 Linda Villumsen (New Zealand), third, bronze medal. World Champion, Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands), gold medal, Carmen Small (United States) was third, bronze medal (Image credit: CJ Farquharson) Image 4 of 42 Pre-race favorite, Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) won the World Championship title in style, over 20 seconds ahead of anyone else (Image credit: CJ Farquharson) Image 5 of 42 Pre-race favorite, Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) won the World Championship title in style, over 20 seconds ahead of anyone else (Image credit: CJ Farquharson) Image 6 of 42 2013 elite women's time trial world championship podium (L-R): Linda Villumsen (New Zealand), Ellen Van Dijk (Netherlands) and Carmen Small (United States of America) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 7 of 42 Fifth podium in five years - Linda Villumsen (New Zealand) took the silver medal (Image credit: CJ Farquharson) Image 8 of 42 Fifth podium in five years - Linda Villumsen (New Zealand) took the silver medal (Image credit: CJ Farquharson) Image 9 of 42 Silver medallist in 2012, Evelyn Stevens (United States), was fourth this year (Image credit: CJ Farquharson) Image 10 of 42 Silver medallist in 2012, Evelyn Stevens (United States), was fourth this year (Image credit: CJ Farquharson) Image 11 of 42 2012 Olympic bronze medallist, Olga Zabalinskya (Russia) was seventh, in one of only a few races she has ridden this season (Image credit: CJ Farquharson) Image 12 of 42 Carmen Small (United States) took the bronze medal (Image credit: CJ Farquharson) Image 13 of 42 Carmen Small (United States) took the bronze medal (Image credit: CJ Farquharson) Image 14 of 42 Trixi Worrack (Germany) was fifth (Image credit: CJ Farquharson) Image 15 of 42 Trixi Worrack (Germany) was fifth (Image credit: CJ Farquharson) Image 16 of 42 Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) finished thirteenth, but did well to recover from her mid-season / National Championships crash to even be riding (Image credit: CJ Farquharson) Image 17 of 42 Carmen Small (USA) held the hot seat and ultimately earned the bronze medal in the women's individial time trial world championship (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 18 of 42 Linda Villumsen (New Zealand) rides to her fifth straight medal in the women's time trial world championships (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 19 of 42 Ellen Van Dijk (Netherlands) earned gold and a rainbow-striped jersey from her stellar performance in the individual time trial Worlds (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 20 of 42 Ellen Van Dijk celebrates her time trial world championship (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 21 of 42 Ellen Van Dijk (Netherlands) is the 2013 elite women's time trial world champion (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 22 of 42 Elisa Longo Borghini was the best Italian finisher in the women's time trial world championship with a 13th place result (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 23 of 42 Ellen Van Dijk (Netherlands) en route to a world championship in the individual time trial (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 24 of 42 Your 2013 women's time trial world championship podium (L-R): Linda Villumsen, Ellen Van Dijk and Carmen Small (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 25 of 42 2013 women's time trial world championship podium (L-R): Linda Villumsen, Ellen Van Dijk and Carmen Small (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 26 of 42 After a stellar season of time trial performances, Ellen Van Dijk (Netherlands) has won the time trial world championship in Italy. (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 27 of 42 A beaming Ellen Van Dijk shows off her gold medal from the individual time trial world championship (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 28 of 42 2013 women's time trial world championship podium (L-R): Linda Villumsen, Ellen Van Dijk and Carmen Small (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 29 of 42 After earning a gold medal for the women's team trial world championship on Sunday, Ellen Van Dijk (Netherlands) earns another gold medal, this time in the individual time trial world championship (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 30 of 42 2013 women's time trial world champion Ellen Van Dijk (Netherlands) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 31 of 42 2013 elite women's time trial world championship silver medalist Linda Villumsen (New Zealand) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 32 of 42 2013 elite women's time trial world championship bronze medalist Carmen Small (USA) (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 33 of 42 Linda Villumsen (New Zealand) on the podium to receive her silver medal for the time trial world championship (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 34 of 42 Carmen Small (USA) on the podium to receive her bronze medal for the time trial world championship (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 35 of 42 Ellen Van Dijk (Netherlands) powers to a gold medal in the elite women's time trial world championship in Italy (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 36 of 42 Ellen Van Dijk (Netherlands) in action during her gold medal performance in the 2013 time trial world championship (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 37 of 42 Perennial time trial powerhouse Linda Villumsen (New Zealand) rides to a silver medal at the world championships (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 38 of 42 Carmen Small (USA) on a bronze medal-winning ride in the time trial world championship (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 39 of 42 Ellen Van Dijk with her gold medal and rainbow jersey for winning the 2013 time trial world championship (Image credit: Sirotti) Image 40 of 42 Ellen Van Dijk (Netherlands) clocked the fastest times through the intermediate splits en route to a time trial world championship (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 41 of 42 2013 women's time trial world champion Ellen Van Dijk (Netherlands) (Image credit: Bettini Photo) Image 42 of 42 The home nation's Elisa Longo Borghini would finish 13th in the women's time trial world championship (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Ellen Van Dijk (Netherlands) lived up to her tag as absolute favourite in the women's individual world time trial in Florence, dominating with a powerful performance on the flat 22.05km course.

The Dutchwoman set a time of 27:48 after a supersonic start and rode100% effort all the way to the finish.

Linda Villumsen (New Zealand) finished 24 seconds slower to take the silver medal. The USA's Carmen Small edged out her compatriot Evelyn Stevens to take the bronze, 28 seconds slower than Van Dijk. Stevens was just four hundredths of second slower in the official results.

Van Dijk is known as the "Animal" by her Specialized-lululemon teammates due to her ability to produce huge power and speed in team time trials. She played a key role in Specialized-lululemon's second consecutive victory in the women's team time trial world championships on Sunday.

She was overjoyed with victory and close to tears as she sung the Dutch national anthem after being crowned world champion for the first time in her career.

"I'm super happy. It's difficult to describe how I feel now. I'm so excited because I dreamt so long of this one and the pressure was high to finish it off. It's great to have won," Van Dijk said.

"My intention was to start fast but I wanted to keep going a bit longer than I did. I maybe got over excited and a went too fast, but I maintained the time difference and so it was all ok."

Villumsen secures her fifth podium spot

The Danish-born Villumsen rode her heart out to try to challenge Van Dijk but lost 20 seconds by the first time split and was unable to make amends in the final part of the 22km course.

It was her fifth consecutive time on the world championship podium. She now has two silver medals and three bronze medals but has yet to win gold and so pull on the world champion's rainbow jersey. She dismissed a suggestion that it was down to bad luck.

"It's not bad luck. If someone is better, they deserve to win," she said.

"A place on the podium is still nice. I go close every year but something is missing. I'll try to work it out and go all the way to the top perhaps next year."

Bittersweet success for Small

Carmen Small was happy to take the bronze medal for the USA but felt sorry for her teammate Evelyn Stevens, who missed a place on the podium by 0.04 of a second.

"It's a very bittersweet feeling for me. Evelyn is a good friend, a teammate and a fellow countryman. We've spent a lot of time together this season and it's hard to have been beaten and have it be so close," she said.

"I knew that it was going to be a close race but never doubted that Ellen would win. She's incredibly strong. I've been fortunate to be her teammate all season. She's special and has worked so hard. She deserves it."

Van Dijk fast from the start

The 22.05km time trial course was considered short by many, but the high-speed circuit in the Cascine park in Florence and then the finale in the city centre and along the Arno river, produced a thrilling race.

Mountain biker Annika Langvad (Denmark) was the early leader after setting a time of 28:27 and stayed in the hot seat for a long time before eventually finishing sixth fastest.

Trixi Worrack (Germany) took over the hot seat with a fine ride and lunge to the line, setting a time of 28:19. However the big favourites started last. They were still out on the course but showed their intentions with some fast intermediate times at the two intermediate time splits after 12.7km and 17.1km.

Van Dijk immediately showed she had something more than her rivals, going 20 second faster than Villumsen and 24 seconds faster than Small. At the second split the gaps were 25 and 28 seconds.

Van Dijk lost one second to Villumsen in the final five kilometres but had a huge margin of victory.

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