The Dutch team were considered the clear favourites to deliver a world champion at the close of the 152 kilometres race, given their strength in depth.

A number of attacks during the first 100km sought to test their legs, with the hope of potentially springing a surprise.

There was a blow for the favourites when Blaak crashed early in the proceedings but she found her way back into the peloton.

Blaak initiated the decisive move of the race, breaking clear inside the final 23km with Britain’s Hannah Barnes and Audrey Cordon Ragot of France.

The trio kept the pace on as the race approached the final climb at Salmon Hill, where Katarzyna Niewadoma of Poland launched clear of the chasing pack in pursuit of the leaders.

Her attack was followed by Australia’s Katrin Garfoot and the Dutch duo of Anna van der Breggen and newly-crowned time trial gold medallist Anna van Vleuten.

It swelled the number of Dutch riders to three when they crossed to make a seven rider lead group as their domination told.

When Blaak went on the offensive again the remainder of the group were unable to follow, leaving her to go solo to the finish and end in a winning time of 4 hours 06min 30sec.

The peloton caught the chase group in the closing stages as they prepared for a sprint finish, with Garfoot ultimately having the pace to secure the silver medal, 28 seconds down on the winner.

Denmark’s Amalie Dideriksen, the reigning world champion, came through to prevent van Vleuten from adding to her time trial medal.

Blaak and Van Vleuten’s success meant The Netherlands had achieved the road and time trial double, having been the last nation to achieve the feat when Marianne Vos and Ellen van Dijk earned gold medals at Tuscany in 2013.

"We didn’t really talk to each other before I attacked but we knew what to do," the 27-year-old Blaak said.

"There were three of us in a group of seven, and that meant we should attack and not wait for the sprint, so I attacked.

"I don’t know what happened then, but they didn’t follow or they waited too long.

"We had really good teamwork, but it’s also a lot of pressure because when you are in the break you have to win."

Denmark enjoyed success in the men’s junior road race, with Julius Johansen replicating his compatriot Jakob Egholm’s victory in Doha last year.

Egholm helped his team-mate in Bergen, working to enable Johansen to launch a solo attack with two laps of the 133km race left.

Johansen built a substantial advantage over the peloton and  finished with a lead of over one minute as he took victory in 3:10:48.

Italy's Luca Rastelli and Michele Gazzoli won the silver and bronze medals, ending 51 seconds down on Johansen.