Hello and welcome to live coverage of the World Championships men's road race from Doha. A 257.5km ride that starts with an out-and-back loop up the coast and into the desert, followed by seven laps of a 15.2km circuit around the Pearl, Qatar.

BREAK CAUGHT: The six leaders are now clinging on for dear life to the back of the main pack having been swept up after the best part of 110km riding out ahead.

The break's days are numbered. The main pack is about 20 seconds down and has them in their sights. After making all the efforts early on, the British riders are taking a back seat and letting Belgian and Slovakia do all the work. The second group - with the likes of Bouhanni, Greipel and Kittel - are 55 seconds down. Can they sustain this kind of ferocity all the way back to Doha and then onto the city circuits? It's going to be really fascinating.

Mark Cavendish (Great Britain, 31, ****) Before the season started many people baulked at Cavendish's three-pronged assault on the Tour de France, Olympics and Worlds. Well, the 31-year-old Manxman has proved his doubters wrong so far, with four stage wins on the Tour – including that opening day maillot jaune – and a silver medal on the track in Rio. Can he complete the hat-trick? For the romantics, Cavendish is the man to beat. While the flat course will suit him even more than Copenhagen did back in 2011, he's laboured on the road since the Olympics, with form both patchy and rattled by illness. A strong nine-man British team will also feature fastmen Ben Swift, Dan McLay and Adam Blythe, as well as Sky trio Geraint Thomas, Luke Rowe and Ian Stannard. But it will count for nothing if Cavendish doesn't have the legs in the fierce Qatari heat. Write him off at your peril, mind. Cavendish revels in proving his doubters wrong and this could be the perfect stage for him to end what has been a stellar season.

The gap is down to 1:50 for the six escapees but the second group still trails the main pack by 45 seconds. Italy have Elia Viviani and Daniele Bennati in this main group, while France have William Bonnet and Adrien Petit. The Dutch have Terpstra and Leezer, but no Groenewegen. Norway have Kristoff and Boasson Hagen, Great Britain have Cavendish and Blythe. Sagan is there too. Compelling stuff.

Nacer Bouhanni (France, ***) The journalists' favourite. It's pretty clear Bouhanni has been given the nod in the French squad ahead of former U23 world champion Arnaud Demare – despite a rotten season that has seen him disqualified from races and miss all three Grand Tours (most notably the Tour de France following a much publicised spat with a drunken fan on the eve of the race). But between the punches, crashes and stitches, 26-year-old Bouhanni has managed to notch 10 wins – and it would be typical of his bullish, brash and ballsy personality to end a troubled year with the rainbow stripes around his chest. To help him in this quest Bouhanni will have his formidable Cofidis lead-out train of Geoffrey Soupe, Adrien Petit and Christian Laporte. Should he wobble, Demare – the surprise Milan-Sanremo winner – lacks zip but could prove an able deputy.

Belgium drive the pace in this main group. They trail the six leaders by 2:30 after Ramirez managed to rejoin the break after that spill. The main pack lead the second group by 45 seconds. There's a French rider in this main group but it's neither Bouhanni nor Demare.

Of course, Mark Cavendish, Michael Matthews and Peter Sagan are all in this leading group too. Oh, and CRASH! The six leaders have entered a sand storm and Brayan Ramirez of Colombia is blown off his bike and onto his back-side at speed. He was like a sail or a kite caught in the wind, going up into a wheelie before landing heavily on his rump. Nasty one.

Replays show that after Durbridge suddenly slowed, Gaviria hit him with his left shoulder but managed to stay upright before Mezgec ploughed into the Australian. All three seem to be out of the race, with Gaviria holding his shoulder as if it's dislocated or he has a collarbone issue.

Germany only have John Degenkolb in the front group - both Andre Greipel and Marcel Kittel have been caught out. Nacer Bouhanni of France also missed out, and Dylen Groenewegen. The main group is a roll call of top classics riders - Kristoff, Boonen, Degenkolb, Boasson Hagen...

CRASH: Slovenia's Luka Mezgec ploughs into trade team-mate Luke Durbridge of Australia after the latter slowed down. Fernando Gaviria of Colombia is also involved. They were in the third group, I think. Utter chaos here.

Remember - there's still the six-man break out ahead, but their gap has come down to 4:25. The main pack is now just about 30-strong with Belgian very well represented. Peter Sagan has both his team-mates so it's very well played by Slovakia. Rene Corella, the seventh man in the initial break, has just been caught by the chasers. Belgium are the big winners here: they have six riders including Boonen, Stuyven and Van Avermaet.

Peter Sagan and his brother Juraj are both in this leading group. The Norwegians have both Kristoff and Boasson Hagen. Australia will now have to play the Matthews card what with Ewan's demise. Geraint Thomas has been caught out for Great Britain - he's well down in an eighth or ninth group. There are so many groups on the road. Fascinating.

Fernando Gaviria (Colombia, 22, **) Like Ewan, the Colombian is another youngster with a serious chance at making a splash in Doha. Unlike Ewan, Gaviria is showing form at the tail end of the season – most notably with victory in last week's Paris-Tours, where he caught his rivals napping with an early attack on the home straight. With Colombians more readily associated with scaling mountains than leading out on the flat, Gaviria won't benefit from strong team support so he'll have to do things his way. It's probably too big an ask at this stage in his career, but do keep an eye out for him in the finale.

CHASH: Three riders go down near the back of the peloton. Meanwhile, Belgium and Norway now drive the pace. It looks like Ian Stannard, after forcing this split, has now been caught out. Thrilling stuff.

Caleb Ewen is really struggling - he was distanced from the first echelon, and has blown a gasket trying to get back. He's now way off the back of the strung-out peloton...

Double puncture for Tom Dumoulin, who could be out of this race now. Bad news for Dylen Groenewegen - his Dutch powerhouse team-mate would have been a key rider in the return leg. He's got a new bike bit it will be a real struggle to regain contact.

SPLIT: Caleb Ewan and some of the Australians are on the wrong side of a split. We have about 40 riders in this leading group. It's all happening. They've completed the crosswind section and are now on the southerly drag back to Qatar.

It's getting quite physical on the front ahead of this 90-degree turn. Norway and Belgian are taking it to Great Britain - and already the peloton is strung out. Cavendish is second behind Stannard to make sure he is not caught out.

Jens Debusschere (Belgium, 27, *) Of course, there's a big chance that Boonen will simply be a foil for Belgian's wildcard in Debusschere, who had been consistent all season despite a solitary win in the Dwars door Vlaanderen back in March. Still, with a team that also boasts Jurgen Roelants, Jasper Stuyven and Olympic champion Greg van Avermaet, then fans – the ones watching on TV, that is – can certainly expect the Belgian team to be in the mix come the final lap.

Mexico's Rene Corella is the first of the escapees to be dropped. The road surface is pretty shoddy out here and it also much narrower. It could be a factor when the peloton passes through, with those crosswinds. The Norwegians, Belgians, Swiss and Dutch have edged to the front alongside Great Britain, who have Ian Stannard setting the tempo.

The leaders have made the first 90-degree turn and are on the short most northerly section of the outward loop before the race heads back to Doha. It's here where there will be some crosswinds before the long drag back to the Pearl, which will largely be a tailwind. So expect some action soon. The gap is down to 8:15.