Paolo Bettini defended his world road racing title, taking the sprint victory Sunday in Stuttgart. Bettini edged Alexandr Kolobmev of Russia and hometown boy Stefan Schumacher.Bettini repeated as road champion, just as Fabian Cancellara successfully defended his title in the time trial championships on Thursday.

The starting group of 198 riders was whittled to about 40 by the last of the 14 circuit around Stuttgart. A group of 20 broke away at the bottom of the first climb but was trimmed to five by the middle of the second climb. Kolobmev, Bettini and Schumacher chased Frank Schlek of Luxemborg and Cadel Evans, who finished second in the Tour de France, for the final five miles. Bettini let Schlek do most of the work, then launched his attack about 400 meters from the finishing line.

George Hincapie, who captained the U.S. team and took first overall in the Tour of Missouri, stayed with the leaders until the final circuit, when he missed the decisive move on the next-to-last climb.