Tadej Pogacar solos to first world road title with stunning performance
Pogacar took off with 100km of the 273km ride left and won by 34 seconds to add the rainbow jersey to the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France crowns he won this year.
He was able to cruise the last 500 metres to the line with his arms raised in the air as he became the first Slovenian rider to win the world title on the road.
His rivals were left to fight for the silver and it was Australian Ben O'Connor who launched out of a high-quality chase group to finish second on the podium.
Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, who won the title last year in Glasgow, took the bronze medal.
Pogacar went off the front of the peloton containing all the favourites with 100km left and, with the help of teammate Jan Tratnik, he bridged across to the early breakaway.
Once alone, he put the hammer down and when he began the last of the seven 27-km hilly circuits around Zurich's suburbs he had a one-minute lead and the rainbow jersey looked to be in the bag.
But he showed signs of suffering as the chasers began to erode the gap and at one stage it seemed he might even have emptied his considerable tank of energy too early.
He recovered though and after powering up the final climb it was clear he would emulate the feat of Eddie Merckx in 1974 and Stephen Roche in 1987.
"I cannot believe what just happened," Pogacar told Eurosport. "After this kind of season I put a lot of pressure on myself for today, pressure from myself and the team.
"We came here for the victory. I maybe did a stupid attack but I never gave up until the final. It's incredible."
Pogacar's season almost defies belief. Not only did he win his third Tour de France with six stage wins and his first Giro, also with six stage wins, he also won the Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Strade Bianche classics and totalled 23 victories altogether.
He said that attacking so far from home on Sunday was not exactly the plan though.
"Of course not, the plan was to keep the race under control but the race went quite early and I don't know what I was thinking and I just went also and luckily I made it," he said.
"It was so tough, it was incredible. After many years fighting for other races I never had the world championships as a clear goal and this year everything went smooth."