Dan Craven won a dramatic sprint to the line to win the gold medal at the All Africa Cycling Championships Road Race in Casablanca, Morocco, on Sunday.

With about 50m to go, Craven caught up with the leader Hassan Zahboune of Morocco, but when he tried to pass him, the Moroccan tried to push Craven into the guardrails.

Craven refused to brake and make way for Zahboune with the result that the two cyclists hit shoulders and the Moroccan hit the ground as Craven raced away to win the title.

Craven won the 143-km event in a time of 3 hours, 29 minutes, 40 seconds at an average speed of 40,92 km/h.

The Moroccan soon got up to push his bike over the line and take second spot, 17 seconds behind Craven, while Abdelmalek Madani of Algeria came third, 25 seconds behind Craven.

It was Craven's second medal at the Championships after he won a bronze medal in the Time Trial on Friday.

Craven was elated with the victory, especially since he had not expected it.

"Winning was an amazing feeling.

I had come to Morocco to win the gold medal in the time trial but I was only able to take the bronze medal.

So making up for that disappointment like this is fantastic, especially as the road title is more valuable.

I would rank this as my second most important victory after winning the GP Cristal Energie in France in July over 210 km, where I raced against professional teams, including the Tour de France team, Agritubel," he told Namibia Sport.