The women's road race of the 2008 UCI Road World Championships cycling event took place on 27 September in

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

, Italy. The course comprised eight laps around a 17.35-kilometre route, making a total distance of 138.8 km. Each lap featured two ascents: the first at Montello (6.5% gradient for 1.15 kilometres); and the second at Ronchi,

Gallarate Gallarate (; Lombard: ''Galaraa'') is a city and ''comune'' of Alto Milanese of Lombardy and of Milan metropolitan area, northern Italy, in the Province of Varese. It has a population of some 54,000 people. It is the junction of railways to Va ...

(4.5% for 3.13 kilometres). The race included a total of 1,937 metres of climbing. Pre-race favourites included Varese local rider

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 ...

and her teammates

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 ...

and

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 ...

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,

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 ...

of Germany (champion in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

), reigning

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

champion

Nicole Cooke Nicole Denise Cooke, MBE (born 13 April 1983) is a Welsh former professional road bicycle racer and Commonwealth, Olympic and World road race champion. At Beijing in 2008 she became the first British woman to win a Gold Olympic medal in an ...

and silver medallist

Emma Johansson Emma Karolina Johansson (born 23 September 1983) is a Swedish retired professional racing cyclist. Nicknamed ''Silver Emma'', Johansson accumulated many second and third places at major championships and one-day classics. In 2013 she finished t ...

. Notably missing from the start list was

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 ...

, reigning champion from

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, who was awaiting a verdict on a non-negative drug test result in July 2008. The race was won by Great Britain's

, with

and

finishing with the same time, second and third respectively. Cooke was the first British woman to win the race since

Mandy Jones Amanda Ellen "Mandy" Jones is a British former racing cyclist born in 1962 who won the women's world road race championship in 1982. Biography Jones joined the West Pennine Road Club to ride on Sunday outings. She rode her first race in 1974 ...

in 1982.

The race

Not long after the race began, a Swedish rider brought down the front row of the peloton when her tyres slipped on some painted letters on the road.

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 ...

was also brought down in a crash, when she was squeezed up against a fence. Although she was not severely injured and did attempt to chase the bunch, she failed to make contact and did not finish. A group of thirteen riders soon broke away from the main group, driven mainly by the American

Kristin Armstrong Kristin Armstrong Savola (; born August 11, 1973) is a former professional road bicycle racer and three-time Olympic gold medalist, the winner of the women's individual time trial in 2008, 2012, and 2016. Before temporarily retiring to start a ...

. They gained 25 seconds on the field but were pulled back by the Dutch and British teams with one lap to go. As soon as the break was caught, Marianne Vos launched a counter-attack on the Montello climb, Nicole Cooke, Judith Arndt,

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 ...

and Emma Johansson, and

Susanne Ljungskog Susanne Ljungskog (born 16 March 1976 in Halmstad) is a Swedish former cyclist. A four-time Olympian (1996, 2000, 2004 and 2008), she won the world road race championship in 2002 and 2003. The same years, she was UCI points champion. She has ...

joined her in what was to become the winning break. Ljungskog's chances ended when she punctured, leaving five in the break. Worrack and Vos attacked on the final hill, but were brought back to the break with 2 km to go. The race finished with a sprint, Vos took the lead before being overtaken by Cooke just before the finish line. Arndt struggled to match their speed in the sprint, she was nearly caught out by a late surge by Johansson, but eventually crossed the line in third place.

Final classification

Did not finish

45 riders failed to finish the race. Mayuko Hagiwara of Japan was disqualified, and Grassi Herrera of Mexico did not start the race.

References

External links

Varese 2008 home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:2008 UCI Road World Championships - Women's road race Women's Road Race UCI Road World Championships – Women's road race 2008 in women's road cycling