The 22-year-old produced an impressive display in Italy as he broke clear of his nearest rivals with four laps remaining of the nine lap course.

His route to victory would become a procession when second place Toon Aerts, the European champion, hit a tree and crashed out of contention.

The Belgian rider is suspected to have suffered a broken collarbone, which could rule him out of competing at the World Championships in Sanem, Luxembourg, on January 29.

Van Aert, who won the world title for the first time last year, cruised to victory in the World Cup in a time of 1hour, 5min and 3sec.

It was the Belgian’s fourth win of the World Cup season, with the result confirming he would claim the overall title with one race to spare.

Germany’s Marcel Meisen ended 18 seconds off the pace to end as the runner-up in the 28 kilometre race, while Belgium’s Tom Meeusen was a further nine seconds down in third.

Marianne Vos was a comfortable winner in the women’s race, with the Dutch rider storming to a solo win in 41:26.

She would finish 40 seconds clear of Katerina Nash at the conclusion of the race, with the Czech ending as the runner-up.

The Netherlands’ Sophie De Boer was 59 seconds behind the winner in third place, just edging out her team-mate Annemarie Worst for a podium place.

De Boer is the leader of the overall World Cup standings with 438 points.