Cycling-Kwiatkowski wins world title with textbook attack

* Pole takes men's elite race gold * Australian rider Gerrans is second (Adds quotes, detail) PONFERRADA, Spain, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Poland's Michal Kwiatkowski timed his attack to perfection to beat the top favourites and claim gold in the men's elite race at the road cycling world championships on Sunday. Kwiatkowski attacked just before the final climb, caught the four breakaway riders in front of him and quickly dropped them, crossing the line with a one-second advantage over a group of chasers. Among them was pre-race favourite Simon Gerrans of Australia, who finished second ahead of Spain's Alejandro Valverde. "I was feeling great in the last lap, thanks to the work of my team mates," said Kwiatkowski at the end of a 254.8-km effort, who succeeds Portuguese Rui Costa as champion. "I risked it all when I saw that most of the top riders were still there. I had watched the Under-23 race and I saw that a lone rider could win." The win capped a remarkable season for the 24-year-old Pole, who won the Strade Bianche Italian one-day race and also took third places in the prestigious Fleche Wallonne and Liege-Bastogne-Liege classics. "To be honest with you I felt like I wanted to cry when I crossed the finish line, to be so close to the world title and to see it slip away in the final few kilometres," Gerrans was quoted as saying by the Australian Associated Press. "Coming to the finish with the small group we were racing for second place and I knew I had good legs. "If things had unfolded a little differently in the final I knew I could have been racing for the victory." On a course that was much less selective than advertised, even if it featured two climbs on the 18.2-km circuit, the big nations still had many options left on the last of 14 laps. Vasil Kiryienka of Belarus, France's Cyril Gautier, Dane Valgren Andresen and Italian Alessandro De Marchi were still ahead of the pack inside the last 10km but soon Kwiatkowski sped past them. Belgium's Philippe Gilbert worked hard in a group of chasers to bring back team mate Greg van Avermaet but he fell just short as Kwiatkowski had time to zip up his jersey and celebrate before crossing the line. Just like last year, Chris Froome abandoned as Britain failed again to be a factor in the race. Time trial specialist Tony Martin tried his luck solo early on but his effort was doomed and the German was reined in within reasonable distance of the finish. He later quit the race. Swiss Fabian Cancellara, who had skipped the individual time trial to focus on Sunday's race and was seen as a top favourite, was never in the mix and finished a disappointing 11th. Pure sprinters came up just short as they finished in the main pack seven seconds behind Kwiatkowski. Norway's Alexander Kristoff was the best of them as he won the sprint of the bunch to take eighth place ahead of German John Degenkolb and France's Nacer Bouhanni. (Writing by Julien Pretot; Editing by Alan Baldwin and Toby Davis)