A controversial series of events ended with Paolo Bettini winning the world championships in Stuttgart, Germany today.

Bettini finished the 267.4-kilometer or 166.2-mile race in 6 hours, 44 minutes, 43 seconds. The Olympic champion beat Alexandr Kolobnev of Russia and Stefan Schumacher of Germany.

Bettini wouldn’t sign an anti-doping pledge before the race, and Stuttgart city officials went after him with a court injunction, but were unsuccessful at preventing him from racing.

“He came, he saw, he won,” said UCI cycling federation president Pat McQuaid who handed Bettini the rainbow jersey, days after criticizing him for not signing the pledge.

Bettini came from behind to win in a sprint finish.

Read more about the race here.