October 11, 2003 – After a grueling 173.6km race yesterday, the espoirs men's race came down to a sprint finish between nine riders, only nine seconds ahead of the main pack.

Uzbekistan rider Sergey Lagutin kicked it in for the sprint, capturing the World title over Belgium's Johan Van Summeren and the Netherlands rider, Thomas Dekker (2nd and 3rd respectively).

Although Lagutin is from Usbekistan, he has been living in Italy for the last three years training with the Italians. After a fourth place finish last year and now a gold medal, Lagutin was visibly emotional as he crossed the finish line with the win.

Lagutin commented that he was afraid of the other riders he wasn't sure what to expect from the Belgiums and the Netherlands cyclists, both with teammates in the break. Also, he commented that the Russian (Alexander Bazenov) and the Italian (Massimo Iannetti) in the break, rode aggressive races and he was very aware of them in the final kilometers.

Of the 133 riders that rolled onto the start line, only 53 finished, including Canada's Chris Isaac (53rd). Hamilton's own Peter Mazur rode for the Polish National Team and finished with the pack in 51st position.