Villumsen finished 21st in the 153km race, which featured eight laps of the inner-city course, including the climb of Salmon Hill on each circuit.
Villumsen, who returned to the sport mid-year after a lengthy time off the bike following the Rio Olympics, capped off a campaign in which she led her professional team to fifth place in the team time trial and was sixth in the individual time trial.
With help from team-mate Georgia Williams, Villumsen bridged up to the lead mid-race, but the fast pace and strong attacks from behind changed her mind.
However, three powerful performances this week have buoyed Villumsen after her disappointment in Rio, which had her questioning her future in the sport.
"It has been a good week but I’m happy it is done. Now [it] is a small rest for me and then build-up again for the Commonwealth Games."
Villumsen was the 2015 time trial world champion and won the gold medal in that discipline at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014.
She was also impressed with the efforts of Williams, an Olympian on the track in Rio, who has completed her rookie professional year with Orica Scott on the women’s World Tour.
Williams provided the wheel for Villumsen to get to the front of the race, before dropping to the chase pack, which finished 4min 43sec behind the winner in 59th place.
"I was feeling good the first four laps but after that was slowly getting cramp and I knew I wouldn’t last the last two laps up the climb. I helped Linda get to the front and hoped she would hang on, but it was a hard race," Williams said.
"I am pretty wrecked. I have had a big season but it was cool and an awesome experience in my first worlds. I put a lot into the year but I’m definitely ready for an off-season."
Williams has re-signed with Orica Scott for next year and hopes she will have more chances to develop after an impressive rookie season.
The all-powerful Dutch team dominated proceedings, with Chantal Blaak recovering from a mid-race crash to solo away for the win, after teammate Annemiek van Vleuten won the time trial.
Earlier, the New Zealand pair of Ben Hamilton and Oscar Elworthy finished in the chase pack in the 135km junior men’s road race.
