Willoughby claimed her second World Championships gold as she edged out defending champion Laura Smulders of the Netherlands by a slim margin to top the podium.

The 28-year-old, world champion in 2017, clocked 34.701sec, while Smulders, the leader in the World Cup standings, finished the course in 35.146.

Axelle Etienne of France came through to take the bronze medal in 35.165.

Willoughby had earlier suffered a heavy crash but bounced back to reach the quarter-finals before she progressed to the final.

"Coming into this I was down in the dumps at the start of the day, I started my day on the ground," she said.

"You know coming into this I knew it was going to be tough with all the Europeans who have been here every week for the past year and in the rain. 

"None of it was in my favour,

"I’m really happy I rose to the challenge and I can’t believe here we are."

Van Gendt eased to victory in the men's race as he held off Niek Kimmann to lead a Dutch one-two in a time of 31.345.

Kimmann, the 2015 world champion, was forced to settle for silver in 35.454.

Defending champion Sylvain André of France clocked 38.482 to earn bronze.

Connor Fields of the United States was unable to add the world title to his Olympic gold medal from Rio 2016 as he was eliminated in the semi-finals.