Sagan has endured a frustrating time since becoming the world champion in September, with the Slovakian having finished second on numerous occasions, including at the E3 Harelbeke cobbled classic on Friday (March 25).

Having triumphed at the 243 kilometre International Cycling Union (UCI) World Tour race in 2013, Sagan had high hopes of a second victory at the event today and had placed himself well in the first of three groups with 165km to go.

A five-man move containing Russia’s Pavel Brutt, The Netherlands’ Lieuwe Westra, Belgium’s Jonas Rickaert, Czech Republic’s Josef Cerny and Switzerland’s Simon Pellaud were hauled back with 114km remaining by the first pack.

The decisive effort came on the steep Kemmelberg climb at 34km from the finish, with Sagan, Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara, Belgium’s Sep Vanmarcke and Russia’s Vyacheslav Kuznetsov forming an elite four-man break.

The quartet remained clear for the remainder of the race, with Sagan eventually out-sprinting Vanmarcke in the closing metres to claim the victory in a time of five hours, 55min and 16sec.

It saw him become only the second man to win the race as world champion, with Belgium’s Rik Van Looy having managed the feat in 1962.

Vanmarcke and Kuznetsov completed the podium on the same time as the Tinkoff rider, with Cancellara eventually missing out on the podium.

The race was overshadowed by Team Wanty-Gobert rider Antoine Demoitié crashing heavily, with his team tweeting that the Belgian's condition is "extremely serious" and stated that "he is currently in the Intensive Care Unit of an university hospital."

The women’s race, held over a 115km course, saw Blaak earn an impressive victory after the Dutch rider escaped in the closing 10km.

Her effort had been a counter-attack following Britain’s world champion Lizzie Armitstead, Blaak’s Boels-Dolmans team-mate, accelerating twice from a leading group.

With her colleague having weakened the main field, Blaak proved able to gain a strong gap in the closing stages of the race, allowing her to cross the line as a comfortable winner in 2:56:00.

The victory was her second and her team’s fourth of the inaugural UCI Women’s World Tour, allowing the 26-year-old to take over from Armitstead as the current leader of the series.

Germany’s Lisa Brennauer and The Netherlands’ Lucinda Brand finished second and third respectively, after leading home the chasing group, who crossed the line 1:24 down.