Australian Michael Rogers has laid claim to being part of cycling's all-time time-trial greats by completing a unique hat-trick of World Road Cycling Championship victories.

Rogers, 25, became the first man ever to win three successive time-trial titles at the Worlds by beating home-town hero Jose Ivan Gutierrez Palacios and Swiss Fabian Cancellara.

"To be in the history books of anything is fantastic," Rogers said.

"I just love cycling, I've done it since I was seven years old.

"I've had a few hard patches and this really makes up for it.

"The first one is always nice, but the other ones aren't far behind it, and you can never win enough of these things.

"Perhaps this was the hardest one for me, but I am really, really happy to be the first person to be able to do it.

"There was a lot of pressure coming into the World Championships for me and that makes it all the better to win it.

"Now I will look for four next year."

The victory was a tonic for Australian cycling, which had been in mourning for two months since the death of AIS cyclist Amy Gillett and wounding of her teammates in a road accident.

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