# 2008 UCI Road World Championships – Women's road race

The women's road race of the 2008 UCI Road World Championships cycling event took place on 27 September in Varese, 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 (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 and her teammates Tatiana Guderzo and Giorgia Bronzini, Marianne Vos of the Netherlands, Judith Arndt of Germany (champion in 2004), reigning Olympic champion Nicole Cooke and silver medallist Emma Johansson. Notably missing from the start list was Marta Bastianelli, reigning champion from 2007, who was awaiting a verdict on a non-negative drug test result in July 2008.
The race was won by Great Britain's Nicole Cooke, with Marianne Vos and Judith Arndt finishing with the same time, second and third respectively. Cooke was the first British woman to win the race since Mandy Jones 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 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. 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 and Emma Johansson, and Susanne Ljungskog 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

| Rank | Rider | Country | Time |
| | Nicole Cooke | Great Britain | 3h 42'11" |
| | Marianne Vos | Netherlands | s.t. |
| | Judith Arndt | Germany | s.t. |
| 4 | Emma Johansson | Sweden | at 5" |
| 5 | Trixi Worrack | Germany | at 11" |
| 6 | Diana Žiliūtė | Lithuania | at 1'47" |
| 7 | Marta Vilajosana Andreu | Spain | s.t. |
| 8 | Joanne Kiesanowski | New Zealand | s.t. |
| 9 | Alex Wrubleski | Canada | s.t. |
| 10 | Yuliya Martisova | Russia | s.t. |
| 11 | Claudia Häusler | Germany | s.t. |
| 12 | Chantal Beltman | Netherlands | s.t. |
| 13 | Linda Villumsen | Denmark | s.t. |
| 14 | Giorgia Bronzini | Italy | s.t. |
| 15 | Nikki Egyed | Australia | s.t. |
| 16 | Grace Verbeke | Belgium | s.t. |
| 17 | Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli | France | s.t. |
| 18 | Edita Pučinskaitė | Lithuania | s.t. |
| 19 | Christiane Soeder | Austria | s.t. |
| 20 | Maryline Salvetat | France | s.t. |
| 21 | Kaytee Boyd | New Zealand | s.t. |
| 22 | Amber Neben | United States | s.t. |
| 23 | Małgorzata Jasińska | Poland | s.t. |
| 24 | Siobhan Dervan | Ireland | s.t. |
| 25 | Laura Lorenza Morfin Macouzet | Mexico | s.t. |
| 26 | Monia Baccaille | Italy | s.t. |
| 27 | Rasa Polikevičiūtė | Lithuania | s.t. |
| 28 | Sharon Laws | Great Britain | s.t. |
| 29 | Tatiana Guderzo | Italy | s.t. |
| 30 | Mirjam Melchers-Van Poppel | Netherlands | s.t. |
| 31 | Susanne Ljungskog | Sweden | s.t. |
| 32 | Modesta Vžesniauskaitė | Lithuania | at 1'56" |
| 33 | Natalia Boyarskaya | Russia | s.t. |
| 34 | Jolanta Polikevičiūtė | Lithuania | s.t. |
| 35 | Emma Pooley | Great Britain | s.t. |
| 36 | Anna Sanchis Chafer | Spain | s.t. |
| 37 | Noemi Cantele | Italy | at 1'59" |
| 38 | Zinaida Stahurskaya | Belarus | at 4'54" |
| 39 | Kristin Armstrong | United States | at 4'56" |
| 40 | Alexandra Burchenkova | Russia | at 5"24" |
| 41 | Elizabeth Armitstead | Great Britain | s.t. |
| 42 | Rosane Kirch | Brazil | at 6'08" |
| 43 | Grete Treier | Estonia | at 6'11" |
| 44 | Maja Adamsen | Denmark | s.t. |
| 45 | Oxana Kozonchuk | Russia | s.t. |
| 46 | Clemilda Fernandes Silva | Brazil | s.t. |
| Rank | Rider | Country | Time |
| 47 | Karine Gautard | France | s.t. |
| 48 | Erinne Willock | Canada | s.t. |
| 49 | Lieselot Decroix | Belgium | s.t. |
| 50 | Sereina Trachsel | Switzerland | s.t. |
| 51 | Martina Růžičková | Czech Republic | s.t. |
| 52 | Eneritz Iturriaga Echevarria | Spain | s.t. |
| 53 | Vicki Whitelaw | Australia | s.t. |
| 54 | Edwige Pitel | France | s.t. |
| 55 | Paulina Brzeźna | Poland | s.t. |
| 56 | Marissa van der Merwe | South Africa | s.t. |
| 57 | Monika Grzebinoga | Poland | s.t. |
| 58 | Liesbet De Vocht | Belgium | s.t. |
| 59 | Daniela Pintarelli | Austria | s.t. |
| 60 | Julie Beveridge | Canada | s.t. |
| 61 | Jessica Allen | Great Britain | s.t. |
| 62 | Suzanne de Goede | Netherlands | s.t. |
| 63 | Oenone Wood | Australia | s.t. |
| 64 | Carla Ryan | Australia | s.t. |
| 65 | Tatiana Antoshina | Russia | s.t. |
| 66 | Patricia Schwager | Switzerland | s.t. |
| 67 | Kori Kelley Seehafer | United States | s.t. |
| 68 | Monika Schachl | Austria | at 6'16" |
| 69 | Rosara Joseph | New Zealand | s.t. |
| 70 | Fabiana Luperini | Italy | s.t. |
| 71 | Charlotte Becker | Germany | s.t. |
| 72 | Luise Keller | Germany | s.t. |
| 73 | Oksana Kashchyshyna | Ukraine | at 9'22" |
| 74 | Verónica Leal Balderas | Mexico | s.t. |
| 75 | Sylwia Kapusta | Poland | at 12'14" |
| 76 | Anriette Schoeman | South Africa | at 13'17" |
| 77 | Sigrid Corneo | Slovenia | s.t. |
| 78 | Felicia Greer | Canada | s.t. |
| 79 | Jennifer Hohl | Switzerland | s.t. |
| 80 | Élodie Touffet | France | s.t. |
| 81 | Rasa Leleivytė | Lithuania | s.t. |
| 82 | Miho Oki | Japan | at 17'50" |
| 83 | Yevheniya Vysotska | Ukraine | at 20'20" |
| 84 | Laure Werner | Belgium | at 22'02" |
| 85 | Mirjam Hauser-Senn | Switzerland | s.t. |
| 86 | Julie Krasniak | France | at 27'51" |
| 87 | Chrissie Viljoen | South Africa | at 28'39" |
| 88 | Lynette Burger | South Africa | s.t. |
| 89 | Magdalena Zamolska | Poland | s.t. |
| 90 | Inga Čilvinaitė | Lithuania | s.t. |
| 91 | Alyona Andruk | Ukraine | s.t. |

### 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.
| Rider | Country |
| Karin Thürig | Switzerland |
| Anne Samplonius | Canada |
| Irene van den Broek | Netherlands |
| Christine Thorburn | United States |
| Angela Brodtka | Germany |
| Rochelle Gilmore | Australia |
| Anita Valen De Vries | Norway |
| Hanna Taukanitsa | Belarus |
| Yuka Yamashima | Japan |
| Maria Briceno Jimenez | Venezuela |
| Eva Lechner | Italy |
| Brooke Miller | United States |
| Emma Rickards | Australia |
| Katheryn Curi Mattis | United States |
| Andrea Thürig | Switzerland |
| Iosune Murillo Elkano | Spain |
| Regina Bruins | Netherlands |
| Jarmila Machačová | Czech Republic |
| Yulia Blindyuk | Russia |
| Louise Moriarty | Ireland |
| Leticia Gil Parra | Spain |
| Olivia Dillon | Ireland |
| Garcia Buittrago | Venezuela |
| Rider | Country |
| Kathryn Bertine | Saint Kitts and Nevis |
| Monica Holler | Sweden |
| Christine Majerus | Luxembourg |
| Karin Aune | Sweden |
| Anna Harkowska | Poland |
| Robyn de Groot | South Africa |
| Cherise Taylor | South Africa |
| Uênia Fernandes de Souza | Brazil |
| Emilia Fahlin | Sweden |
| Nathalie Bates | Australia |
| Yolandi Du Toit | South Africa |
| Janildes Fernandes Silva | Brazil |
| Gema Pascual Torrecilla | Spain |
| Marie Lindberg | Sweden |
| Heather Wilson | Ireland |
| Alena Sits Ko | Belarus |
| Polona Batagelj | Slovenia |
| Nathalie Lamborelle | Luxembourg |
| Laura Lepasalu | Estonia |
| Katarína Uhláriková | Slovakia |
| Adriana Lovera Varela | Venezuela |
| Mariya Slokotovich | Kazakhstan |