On the first day of road races following the last time trial yesterday, Halvorsen timed his sprint to perfection to edge ahead and cross the line first ahead of German rival Pascal Ackermann.

Ackermann, who thought he had done enough, was left banging his handlebars in frustration.

It came after the Norwegian and German teams each led their star riders perfectly at the end of the 165.7 kilometres race around the Qatari capital.

A nine rider breakaway was hauled back in by the chasing peloton with 10km to go.

"It was a very hard sprint but the team did an amazing job and I got the wheel of the German rider, so it was perfect," said Halvorsen.

"They were so, so good today, this was a team win."

Jakub Mareczko of Italy completed the podium in third place.

As predicted, a flat course made a sprint finish inevitable, although the roundabouts and tight turns disrupted lead-out trains.

Germany's Phil Bauhaus crossed fourth ahead of Norway's Amund Grondahl Jansen and Jason Lowndes of Australia.

Junior male and female races are due to take place tomorrow.

The Championships will then conclude with senior road races over the weekend.