The

2007 UCI Road World Championships The 2007 UCI Road World Championships took place in Stuttgart, Germany, between September 25 and September 30, 2007. The event consisted of a road race and a time trial for men, women and men under 23. Italian Paolo Bettini and Swiss Fabian Cance ...

– Women's Road Race took place on September 29, 2007 around the German city of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. The race started at 9:00. The race was won by Italian

Marta Bastianelli Marta Bastianelli (born 30 April 1987) is an Italian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Team, UCI Women's WorldTeam . Bastianelli won the 2007 UCI Road World Championships – Women's road race, women's road race at ...

, who broke away 15 km from the finish and held a gap over the chasing group. Last year's champion

Marianne Vos Marianne Vos (; born 13 May 1987) is a Dutch multi-discipline cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . After winning a junior European and World Championship in road racing, she continued her success in senior cycling by becomin ...

of the Netherlands took silver with

Giorgia Bronzini Giorgia Bronzini (born 3 August 1983) is an Italian former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2017. She won the women's road race in the UCI Road World Championships in both 2010 and 2011 and the women's poi ...

of Italy taking bronze to cap a dominant performance by the Italian team. It was Bastianelli's first victory of the season.

Race

Although the sun was out at the start of the race, the road were still wet and treacherous. The first victim of the conditions was

Toni Bradshaw Toni Bradshaw (born 25 February 1976) is a road cyclist from New Zealand. She represented her nation at the 2005, 2006, 2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple Inc., Apple's first iPhone (1st gene ...

of New Zealand, this was the first of many early crashes, which included

Zulfiya Zabirova Zulfiya Khasanovna Zabirova (russian: Зульфия Хасановна Забирова; born 19 December 1973) is a Russian professional cycle racer who won the gold medal in the time trial event in the 1996 Olympics and later, in 2002, won th ...

. The race started at a gentle pace but the climbs immediately stretched out the field. Rosario Rodriguez Maria of Spain attacked but was not successful, so the front of the peloton remained quiet. The first lap was completed in just over 33 minutes, with an average speed of 34.709 km/h. The second lap was equally uneventful, except for

Christine Thorburn Christine Thorburn (born September 17, 1969, in Davenport, Iowa) is a retired American professional road cyclist. She became the U.S. women's individual time trial champion in 2004, and later represented the United States in two editions of the ...

of the United States who suffered a slight mechanical. Her chain came off on an uphill section, bringing her to a standstill and impeding the progress of several other riders. The second lap was completed in 33'07", an average speed of 34.604 km/h. The Brazilian

Clemilda Fernandes Silva Clemilda Fernandes Silva (born June 25, 1979) is a Brazilian cycle racer, who is currently suspended from the sport. Career Born in São Félix do Araguaia, Mato Grosso, Fernandes scored three consecutive wins in the Copa América de Ciclis ...

attempted to attack on the third lap, but was marked by the strongest teams. The peloton completed the third lap marginally slower, in 33'32" (average speed 34.494 km/h). The Italian rider

Tatiana Guderzo Tatiana Guderzo (born 22 August 1984) is an Italian professional cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's Continental Team . She won the world road race championship on 26 September 2009 at Mendrisio, Switzerland and a bronze medal in th ...

launched an attack on lap four.

Katheryn Curi Katheryn Curi (formerly Katheryn Curi Mattis; born May 29, 1974 in Goshen, Connecticut) is an American former professional racing cyclist who rode for the Webcor Builders Women's Professional Cycling Team, until the sponsor discontinued it befo ...

(USA), Oxana Kozonchuk (Russia) and

Hanka Kupfernagel Hanka Kupfernagel (born 19 March 1974 in Gera, Bezirk Gera) is a retired German professional cycle racer. During most of her career her primary focus was cyclo-cross racing, however, she has also won major road, track and mountain bike races. ...

(Germany) responded immediately. Kupfernagel marked attacks throughout the race, attempting to ensure a sprint finish for teammate

Judith Arndt Judith Arndt (born 23 July 1976) is a retired German professional cyclist, who last rode for the GreenEDGE-AIS cycling team. She won the bronze medal in the 3000 m pursuit event at the 1996 Summer Olympics when she was 20. In 2004, she won ...

, Kupfernagel had already won a gold medal in the

time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

Trixi Worrack Beatrix "Trixi" Worrack (born 28 September 1981) is a German former professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2000 and 2021. The winner of the 2003 German National Road Race Championships, Worrack's career highlights in ...

was the second rider to drop her chain on a climb, but a passing teammate gave her a little push to get her going again. Lap four was completed nearly a minute faster than the previous lap, with an average speed 34.66 km/h. It was Guderzo who attacked again on the fifth lap, with the first serious attack of the race. She quickly built 10 second lead, which was then extended to 20 seconds. Other riders began to attack including Spaniards, Australians and Swiss riders, but the German team was trying to keep the race under control and no others were able to get away. Guderzo was within the bunch's sights when an advertising barrier was blown over, bringing down several riders, including

Priska Doppmann Priska Doppmann (born 10 May 1971) is a Swiss road racing cyclist, born in Cham. She was the Swiss National Road Race champion in 1999. She finished 7th in the Women's road race at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Currently, she is a manager for th ...

, Maribel Moreno Allue,

Regina Bruins Regina Bruins (born 7 October 1986, in Leiderdorp) is a Dutch professional racing cyclist. She announced a hiatus from cycling following diagnosis with pulmonary embolism in 2012, but late in 2013 announced she would return with the second-cate ...

and

Edita Pučinskaitė Edita Pučinskaitė (born November 27, 1975 in Naujoji Akmenė) is a Lithuanian racing cyclist. For many years, she was one of the top competitors in women's road racing with a victory in the World Road Race Championships in 1999 and several ...

. The peloton's rhythm was sufficiently disrupted so that Guderzo was once more able to increase her lead. With two laps to go, Guderzo had a second lead, but it was never more than 25 seconds.

Noemi Cantele Noemi Cantele (born 17 July 1981) is a professional road bicycle racer. In 2012, she rides for the Be Pink team in women's elite professional events on the National Racing Calendar and UCI Women's World Cup. She competed at the 2012 Summer ...

was 43 seconds behind having been caught up in the crash, but with the help of her team she quickly caught up. It was the turn of the American team set the pace, as

Amber Neben Amber Leone Neben (born February 18, 1975) is an American racing cyclist, who most recently rode for UCI Women's Continental Team . Neben won the UCI world time trial championship in 2008 and 2016 as well as the U.S. national road race champions ...

attacked, but Cantele went with her, driving the break as they caught and passed Guderzo, gaining 25 seconds on the bunch. But the gap began to fall as the bunch worked hard up the climbs, catching Neben and Cantele two kilometres before the start of the final lap. This penultimae lap had been the fastest so far, completed in 31'37", an average speed of 36.246 km/h. Defending champion Marianne Vos and Cantele attacked on the first climb of the final lap, and built small lead. It was

's turn to attack from the front of the bunch, she did so strongly, taking advantage of other riders' hesitation. A group of around a dozen riders was able to catch back up to the second group, which consisted of seven riders. Bastianelli increased her lead to 20 seconds, and despite a brief problem with her chain, she was soon approximately 15 seconds ahead of the small chase group made up of 22 riders. She had wanted to avoid sprinting head to head with Marianne Vos; her tactics worked as she crossed the line first. Vos came in to take the bunch sprint and second position, just in front of

Final classification

September 29, 2007: Stuttgart, 133.7 km

Did not finish

61 riders failed to finish the race.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2007 Uci Road World Championships - Women's Road Race Women's Road Race UCI Road World Championships – Women's road race 2007 in women's road cycling