ROME, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- Olympic champion Marianne Vos won her third gold in the women's road race at the world cycling championships on Saturday.

Emma Johansson of Sweden took the silver medal after beating Italy's Rossella Ratto in a two-up sprint for the finish line of the 139.6-kilometer race.

Although Johansson and Ratto fought to close a gap of only a handful of seconds, it had grown to 15 seconds at the finish where Vos completed the race in three hours and 44 minutes.

"It's great to defend the title. They always say it's hard to win one, but to do it two times in a row is even more difficult," said Vos, the London Olympic champion.

"Until the last lap I didn't feel too confident but on the steep climb I knew I had the chance to attack," added Vos, who was the winner of the event in 2006 and 2012.