He triumphed in a time of 1hr 52min 39sec in blistering heat at the Mexican venue, with a late charge on the bike leg proving crucial.

The swim failed to split the pack, and a ten-man break during the cycling was eventually reeled in midway through the eight-lap circuit to form a peloton of almost 50 riders.

On the last lap, Van Egdom, Japan's Ryousuke Maeda and Shiruba Taniguchi and Swiss triathlete Sylvain Fridelance made another effort to drop the group and the Dutchman was able to build a 40-second lead over his main rivals.

He then exploded into gear on the run and was able to maintain his advantage to the finishing tape.

Equally strong runs by Brazil's Manoel Messias and Bence Bicsak of Hungary saw them claim silver and bronze respectively. 

“I feel so good,” Van Egdom said. 

“On the run I thought that this is once in a lifetime so I just need to keep on going, keep on going.

"It was so hot. 

"Everything was overheated. 

"The other competitors chased me a bit to about 26 seconds, but then I think at the end it was 35 seconds. 

"But I had a great run and a great bike, it just feels so good."