Italian Bargna edged out Germany's Steffen Warias and David Nicholas of Australia at Brands Hatch to claim the Paralympic Games title.

'The course was challenging. I tried to leave riders out of the peleton, tried to skim the group, but the other racers did not seem to want the same,' he said.

'Towards the end I tried to maintain the position, riding on the wake of my opponents, and then I sprinted to the finish. I can't describe my feelings yet.'

Silver medallist Warias was quick to praise the work of his team-mates, saying: 'It was a very, very hard race, but my team colleagues (Tobias) Graf and (Michael) Teuber really work hard for me and drove me into a good position.'