The women’s road race was one of the cycling events at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. It took place on 10 August 2008, featuring 66 women from 33 countries. 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. A group of five broke away during the final lap and worked together until the final sprint, where Nicole Cooke won the race. Cooke earned Great Britain’s first medal at these Games and 200th Olympic gold medal overall.
About Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Women’s individual road race in brief
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. The race was run on the Urban Road Cycling Course, which is 102. 6 kilometres in total. 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. A group of five broke away during the final lap and worked together until the final sprint, where Nicole Cooke won 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. It was the first positive drug test of the 2008 Olympic Games, by Maria Isabel Moreno, who left Beijing on 31 July, before the race and tested positive for EPO. 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.
In the men’s race, Thunderstorms, bringing heavy rain and strong winds, resulted in different conditions from the previous day’s race. Many cyclists expected tropical conditions and adjusted their training to compensate. Cyclists had also anticipated a problem with high levels of pollution levels in Beijing on the women’s race day, but did not appear to appear to affect the results of the road race. In fact, the World Health Organization’s safety level for smog exceeded the men’s race’s level, and some cyclists chose not to wear undershirts to compensate for the warm weather, which proved to be a misjudgment as far far as the actual race was concerned. The women’s event featured a longer course than any of the previous six races. Including a second lap around the 23. 8 km final circuit, the total distance of the race was 126. 4 km, less than half the length of the men’t race. The German rider who finished second at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Judith Arndt, was a strong favourite.
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