Live Blog: Men's Elite Road Race at the UCI Road World Championships

2:23: Peter Sagan wins the 2015 Men's Elite Road World Championship

2:21: Slovak Peter Sagan with less than a km to go looks like we will win the race.

2:17: The Italians, French and Dutch all swarm to the front of the pack now.

2:15: The Italians lead the peloton. When will they make their final move?

2:13: Farrar followed by a rider I can't identify are well ahead of the peloton now. 6.5 km remaining.

2:11 Tyler Farrar is in the top two with about 8 km left. Does he have enough energy to hold on though?

2:09: With about 10km left, several riders begin making their final moves.

2:08: Italy controls with 11 km remaining.

2:01: One lap left. The peloton is packed. This is it.

1:59: Belgian cyclist Tom Boonen(below) is fighting for top spot. We snagged a picture of him moments before the start this morning.

1:53: Ben King, who is from the area, is still high up and is part of the peloton. What a story it would be if he can stay tight al the way through. We featured King before the race. About 20 km left.

1:46 About 25 km left

Your leaders have 2 laps to go! pic.twitter.com/xQgU1LP9ap

— The Collegian (@URCollegian) September 27, 2015

1:44: The top group includes Ian Stannard, UK; Bauke Mollema, Netherlands; Tom Boonen, Belgium; Michał Kwiatkowski, Poland; Daniel Moreno, Spain; and Andrey Amador, Costa Rica

1:38: Bauke Mollema of the Netherlands leads now with about 32 km left. There are seven riders in the top pack. There are two laps to go.

The crowd is ready as the cyclists prepare to come through for another lap! They will have just two left. pic.twitter.com/CZXHeCCz0v

— The Collegian (@URCollegian) September 27, 2015

1:36: The pack makes their way up the cobblestone hill along Libbie, which looks packed full of fans.

1:30: After what has been a rain-free day thus far, light rain is sprinkling the finish line

1:06: The entire press room gasped as dozens of riders crashed at the intersection between Broad Street and 1st Street. Most of the riders are back up and on the move though.

1:05: There are three riders, including American Taylor Phinney, fighting for the top sport with about 60 km remaining. The Collegian is downtown Richmond for the finish.

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Related:  The UCI Road World Championships, explained

Related:  The Collegian's complete coverage of the UCI Road World Championships

10:30: A small podium, a bare starting line and a few cones are the only visible signs that something happened by Tyler Hanes Common this morning.

9:30: A half hour after the start of the race, and campus is already starting to look normal. These clean up teams are efficient. 

9:19: President Ronald Crutcher was in attendance. He watched the start on the hill in front of the Library. Crutcher said he had never seen anything like this at a university.

9:18: The crowds have pretty much dispersed, but their were about 3,000-5,000 spectators for the start, according to a university spokeswoman.

9:03: The riders are followed by their teams' cars, which have extra parts they hope they won't need.

9:02: The crowd is already beginning to disperse

9:01: And... they're gone. Just like that. 

8:59: And they're off! The race has begun.

8:57: Many fans brought their bikes too so they can follow the riders and go to different spots along the course, a fan from Kentucky told me. He is an avid fan, but this is the first UCI Road Worlds Championships he has been to, because its only the second time its been in America, he said.

8:52: The hill in front of the Library is filling up.

8:51: The atmosphere amongst the riders is something else. They are all chatting with each other, seemingly calm, as start time is less than 10 minutes away.

8:50: "USA USA USA" chants can be heard as the Americans are introduced. "It's like a dream come true" an American rider told me in regards to riding on his home turf.

8:37: The rows surrounding the course are several people deep. The various riders are being introduced.

8:36: Edward Ayers spotting. Ayers was chatting with some people in the Ryland lot.

8:34: Columbia, South Africa, Serbia, Japan. You name it. There are so many counties here and so many languages being spoken. It's pretty wild to see many of these riders just doing loops up by the library. 

8:19: The teams I have spoken with are very impressed with University of Richmond. A coach for Team Norway said Richmond "looks like it is straight out of an American movie." The wife of a Russian cyclist said she had been very impressed with the City of Richmond and the university too.

7:50: The parking lot behind Ryland Hall is the spot to be right now. Many countries are stationed here, and the teams are prepping both the cyclists and the bikes for the race. One of the most popular teams was the German team; a young boy received several autographs from them, and you could see in his joyful face that we would remember that moment for many years. A bunch of cyclists are taking the time to take photos with fans and sing autographs. Many spectators here have a sense of awe being so close to some of the world's best cyclists.

7:20: Hello everyone -- welcome to The Collegian's live coverage of the Men's Elite Road Race, the final and most popular race of the nine-day event. The world's very best cyclists will compete in a  162.4-mile circuit race that will start between the Tyler Hanes Commons and Boatwright Memorial Library on University of Richmond's campus. Although the race is slotted to start at 9 a.m., spectators and organizers began flooding the starting area between 6 and 7 a.m. A big turnout is expected today.

Contact editor-in-chief Jack Nicholson at jack.nicholson@richmond.edu