Jaco's got the Gass for Tokyo after maiden Road World Championships medal

Jaco van Gass feels a maiden Road World Championships medal sets him up for a tilt at Tokyo as he swerved a smash to reach the global podium in Emmen, Netherlands.

Van Gass, who was injured in Afghanistan while serving in the Parachute Regiment, claimed bronze at last year’s Track World Championships and is now a medallist on road’s world stage.

The 33-year-old secured silver in nine-lap MC3 road race, fighting back after being caught behind a crash. He clocked 01:39:48, a wheel behind Germany’s Steffen Warias.

“It was an extremely fast race,” he said.

“On the third or fourth lap there was a crash that sent me into the barriers, then I had to jump up as quickly as possible and catch up.

“It was basically a full-on time trial effort to get back on to the group.

“I’m extremely proud of myself. This means a great deal – with Tokyo next year this puts me in a good place.

“I’m eager and I’m hungry, so there are exciting times ahead.”

Dame Sarah Storey sealed an incredible 14th World Championship gold and a seventh road race-time trial double with a commanding WC5 victory.

After victory in Thursday’s time trial, Storey claimed the nine-lap contest. Both Storey and fellow Brit Crystal Lane-Wright were part of a six-strong breakaway, before the pace dropped late on.

Storey positioned herself perfectly going into the final straight and, as other riders fell away, came home first in the bunch. She clocked 01:49:14, ahead of Kirsten Brachtendorf and Sam Bosco.

“I’m so pleased to cross the line first – to win a second gold medal this week is something I genuinely didn’t expect; it wasn’t a selective course and it was a slow, quite tactical race,” she said.

There was a second medal of the week for hybrid world champion Katie Toft who was delighted to bag silver in a topsy-turvy WC1 race.

With C2 and C3 races overlapping, both Toft and China’s Wangwei Qian stayed with the bunch in the seven-lap race - coming home in 1:37:15, 15 secs behind Qian.

“We got neutralised at one point and had to stop, so the people who’d dropped to the back had a chance to recover which was a shame,” said Toft.

“The race went really well, it was one of the best road races I’ve ever done, so I’m chuffed with that.”

There were a succession of fourth-placed finishes for Will Bjergfelt and the tandem pairings of Lora Fachie and Corrine Hall and Steve Bate and Adam Duggleby.

Imagery: SWPix