Cycling At The 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's Road Race
The women's road race was one of the cycling events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. It took place on 10 August 2008, featuring 66 women from 33 countries. It was the seventh appearance of an Olympic women's road race event and featured a longer course than any of the previous six races. The race was run on the Urban Road Cycling Course (one of Beijing's nine temporary venues), which is 102.6 kilometres (63.8 mi) in its entirety. Including a second lap around the 23.8 km (14.8 mi) final circuit, the total distance of the women's race was 126.4 km (78.5 mi), less than half the length of the men's race.
Heavy rain during the entire race made conditions difficult for the competitors. A group of five was able to break away during the final lap and worked together until the final sprint, where Nicole Cooke placed herself in position to win the race. Cooke earned Great Britain's first medal at these Games and 200th Olympic gold medal overall. Emma Johansson of Sweden and Tatiana Guderzo of Italy, finishing second and third place with the same time as Cooke, received silver and bronze medals respectively.
The race also marked the first positive drug test of the 2008 Olympic Games, by María Isabel Moreno of Spain. She was to have taken part in this event and the time trial to follow, but had left Beijing on 31 July, before the race. It was revealed on 11 August that she had tested positive for EPO. This left 66 cyclists to compete, one fewer than in 2004.
Read more about Cycling At The 2008 Summer Olympics – Women's Road Race: Qualification, Preview, Course, Race, Doping Incident, Final Classification
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