Rohan Dennis put his Tour de France exit behind him by successfully defending his time trial title at the UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire.

The Australian abandoned the Tour on stage 12 for reasons that remain unexplained.

That led to speculation over whether the 29-year-old would continue in the sport. However, Dennis was in dominant form on Wednesday.

He was comfortably the quickest on the 54.1 kilometre ride from Northallerton to Harrogate, crossing the line in one hour, five minutes and five seconds.

Remco Evenepoel was 68 seconds off the pace in second while Filippo Ganna (+1.55) completed the podium.

"It didn't go [like that] without a lot of preparation. A lot of time at home, a lot of work on my head, to get myself mentally prepared today," Dennis told BBC Sport.

"There are a lot of people to thank. I knew what pace I went out with last year, and I just stuck on that. I knew I was 20 seconds up at the first check, and I knew I had more to give. It was absolutely perfect today.

"Look, it's been a tough year, obviously there's been a lot of talk since the Tour de France about what I'm doing, but this was really special.

"It meant a lot to come here and really defend this title. I haven't hung the bike up, I am still here to race, I am still to here to win, and I've got a lot more to give in this sport."