Cheptegei ran 26min 38sec in the World Athletics Silver Label road race to take six seconds off the nine-year-old world record set by Kenya's Patrick Komon in Utrecht.

It completed an outstanding year for the 23-year-old who won the World Cross Country Championships in Aarhus in March and the 10,000 metres at the World Championships in Doha in October. 

"World cross champion in Denmark, 10,000m world champion in Doha and now the world record here in Valencia," Cheptegei, the Commonwealth Games 5,000m and 10,000m gold medallist in the Gold Coast last year, said. 

"What a year it has been. 

"I can’t believe it.

"I knew that Valencia was going to be a really fast course, one of the fastest in the world. 

"So to get to achieve what we came here for is something really special."

Cheptegei was also among the five finalists last month for the World Athlete of the Year.

"This year has made me so happy," he said. 

Pacesetter Roy Hoornweg, from The Netherlands, covered the opening kilometre in 2:42 before Cheptegei moved to the front briefly demanding a quicker pace, a demand that was met - by the second kilometre the clock read 5:42 for a 2:40-kilometre split. 

Once Hoorweg dropped out, Cheptegei's Ugandan team-mates Stephen Kissa and Abdallah Mande took command with their leader in tow, with the trio covering 3km in 7:57, well inside the word record schedule.

Following a 2:41 split for the fourth kilometre, Cheptegei overtook the pacemakers before the halfway point, reaching 5km in 13:23, one second short of the world record for that distance.

Running on his own over the entire second half, a determined Cheptegei reached 6km in 16:02 and 7km in 18:42. 

Cheptegei forged on, reaching 8km in 21:37, when it became clear that the world record was within reach.

With 23:59 on the clock at the 9km point, Cheptegei needed to cover the final kilometre in 2:45, which he achieved comfortably.