Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's individual road race

The 2008 Summer Olympics marked the seventh appearance of an Olympic women's road race event. and a maximum of two athletes each for the countries ranking 17–24. An NOC with an athlete in the top 100 at 31 May 2008 received a place, which was taken from the countries ranked 17–24 in reversed order, provided that these athletes qualified through the UCI World Tour rankings. Additionally, three places were available at the B World Championship for NOCs that did not qualify through the UCI standing; Gu Sun-Geun, Hae Ok-Jeong and Thatsani Wichana secured Olympic qualification for their NOCs in this way, but only the first was chosen by her national committee to compete. The maximum quota of the event was set at 67 cyclists, and as of 5 June, 66 cyclists were qualified in this way. Although the Chinese and Austrian NOCs were allowed to enter three cyclists, they only entered two. This left three open positions: two were allotted to South Africa and New Zealand, based on their World Tour rankings, and the third was given to Mauritius by direct invitation. Only 66 of the 67 entrants began the race, as María Isabel Moreno of Spain left the country days earlier after failing a drug test. ==Preview==

Judith Arndt, the German rider who finished second at the 2004 Summer Olympics, was a strong favourite. Among other contenders were UCI Women's Road standings leader, Marianne Vos of the Netherlands; The Australian team was considered strong: it included Sara Carrigan (the defending champion), Many cyclists expected tropical conditions during the race and adjusted their training to compensate. For example, Marianne Vos prepared in El Salvador. Cyclists had also anticipated a problem with high levels of pollution in Beijing, but these did not appear to affect the results of the men's road race. Although the pollution levels in Beijing on 10 August far exceeded the World Health Organization's safety level, the rain during the women's race decreased the smog level. In the men's race, conducted the previous day, humidity and heat had taken the greatest toll on the athletes. resulted in actual race conditions far different from expected. Other riders, such as Katherine Bates (who did not finish), prepared by wearing cooling vests before the race and stocked up on ice packs during it. ==Course==

The race was run on the Urban Road Cycling Course (one of Beijing's nine temporary venues), which was in its entirety. Unlike the previous Olympic races, the start and finish were not at the same location. The early section of the race took place within central Beijing; the gradient of this part of the race was relatively flat. After approximately , the riders reached the Badaling section of the Great Wall and began two loops of between the Badaling and Juyong Passes. From there the cyclists rode over a false flat before descending a highway towards the Juyong Pass. The final were a moderately steep climb, designed to ensure an exciting finale should several riders be grouped together at the end of the race. Due to security regulations put in place by the Olympic organisers, spectators were not permitted to stand roadside along the course. Several prominent figures in cycling protested against this decision, including UCI president Pat McQuaid and two Australian riders, Stuart O'Grady and Cadel Evans, who competed in the men's race. McQuaid and O'Grady felt that the absence of people along the course deprived the race of the atmosphere present at other cycling events, and said that it failed to take supporters' wishes into consideration. Cycling Australia's reaction to the cyclists' complaints was to request that security restrictions be eased for the time trial to follow, but this plea was ignored. ==Race==

, one of the pre-race favourites The race started at 14:00 China Standard Time (UTC+8), and was scheduled to last until 17:30. The weather was unseasonably cool. It was cloudy and the roads were dry at the start of the race. The clouds brought steady rainfall midway through the race, making conditions challenging. The chase for Boyarskaya was led by Christine Thorburn (United States), who brought the lead down to 34 seconds prior to the final loop of . Emma Pooley (Great Britain) and Tatiana Guderzo (Italy) rode away from the bunch on the climb and caught Boyarskaya with to go, forming a three rider breakaway. The German team, with a steady pace, caught them soon after. The British women's road team manager Julian Winn said "We were afraid someone might come down in front of her, so we told her to keep to the left. We knew she would chew them up after that." Cooke's victory was the result of meticulous planning, as the team had ridden the course before the race and formulated the winning plan. ==Doping incident==

The day after the race, an International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesperson announced that Spanish rider María Isabel Moreno had become the first athlete of the 2008 Olympics to test positive for a banned substance. Moreno had provided a urine sample the day she arrived in Beijing (31 July), but flew back to Madrid on the same day, after suffering a panic attack, and did not return to take part in the race. The urine sample tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO). The IOC stripped Moreno of her Games accreditation, later referring the matter to the UCI which confirmed the positive result. A statement on Moreno's website read that "she does not feel ready to justify or explain her reasons for leaving the [Olympic] village". ==Final classification==

A total of 66 cyclists have been qualified in the event at these Games. Most of them are not expected to finish one-day races, having worked in support for their teams (in this case, nations) to place riders with better climbing skills in good positions once the mountainous part of a course begins. Additionally, any rider lapped by the race leader on the Badaling circuit would be forced to stop, although this situation did not occur. The notation "s.t." indicates that the rider crossed the finish line in the same group as the cyclist before her, and was therefore credited with the same finishing time. Notes • Source: Official results ==References==