Cycling at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's road race

Infobox Olympic event
event = Women's cycling road race
games = 2008 Summer


caption =
venue = Urban Road Cycling Course km to mi|126.4|precision=1|abbr=yes
date = August 10
competitors = 66
nations = 33
win_value = 3:32:24 convert|35.71|km/h|mph|abbr=on
gold = Nicole Cooke
goldNOC = GBR
silver = Emma Johansson
silverNOC = SWE
bronze = Tatiana Guderzo
bronzeNOC = ITA
prev=2004The women's road race, a part of the cycling events at the 2008 Summer Olympics, took place on August 10, 2008 at the Urban Road Cycling Course. Sixty-six women from 33 countries took part in the race. It started at 14:00 China Standard Time (UTC+8), and was scheduled to last until 17:30 later that day. The convert|126.4|km|lk=on|adj=on course ran north across the heart of the Beijing metropolitan area, passing such landmarks as the Temple of Heaven, the Great Hall of the People, Tiananmen Square and the Beijing National Stadium. After rolling over relatively flat terrain for convert|78.8|km|abbr=on north of the Beijing city center, the route entered a decisive circuit encompassing two loops of a convert|23.8|km|abbr=on section up and down the Badaling Pass, including ramps as steep as a 10 percent gradient.cite web|url=http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/headlines/cyclingroad/n214516093.shtml|title=Road Cycling Day 1 Preview: Great Wall course serves up cycling vertical challenge|publisher=The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games|date=2008-08-08|accessdate=2008-08-09]

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; they were together until the sprint, where Nicole Cooke proved the strongest. It marked a milestone in the history of Britain at the modern Olympic Games, as Cooke earned their 200th gold medal, as well as the first medal for Britain at the 2008 Olympics.citeweb|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/cycling/7552294.stm|title=Cooke grabs first GB gold medal|publisher=BBC Sport|date=2008-08-10|accessdate=2008-08-12]

The race was also significant for more inauspicious reasons. María Isabel Moreno of Spain was to take part in this event and the time trial to follow, but she left Beijing on July 31. It was revealed on August 11 that she had tested positive for EPO, the first positive drug test in the 2008 Games. [citeweb|url=http://www.cbc.ca/olympics/cycling/story/2008/08/11/olympics-cycling-epotest.html|title=Spanish cyclist tests positive for EPO|publisher=CBC Sports|date=2008-08-11|accessdate=2008-08-11]

Qualification

Qualification for the race was restricted to three athletes per National Olympic Committee (NOC), providing that these athletes qualified through the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) rankings. Any NOC unable to fill its quota of athletes from the World Tour rankings was permitted to enter athletes from the "B" World Championship. Three entrants qualified through the "B" World Championships. [citeweb|url=http://www.uci.ch/Modules/BUILTIN/getObject.asp?MenuId=MjI1MA&ObjTypeCode=FILE&type=FILE&id=MzI3NjA&|title=UCI qualification system|publisher=Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)|accessdate=2008-08-11] In addition, Mauritius received one invitation place but did not enter a rider. [cite web|url=http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/headlines/cyclingroad/n214397874.shtml|title=2008 Olympic Games road cycling: distribution of places for Elite Women|publisher=The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games|date=2008-06-10|accessdate=2008-09-05] The final number of competitors was set to be 67, but only 66 athletes started the race. María Isabel Moreno of Spain left the country prior to the start of the race, for reasons which would not become apparent until the following day.

Preview

Conditions

In the men's race of the previous day, many analysts had anticipated problems for the athletes due to the high levels of pollution, but those concerns turned out to be relatively unfounded.citeweb|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/sports/olympics/10cycling.html?ref=sports|title=Humidity Is the Problem in a Race of Attrition|publisher=NY Times|author=Greg Bishop|quote=(...) the racers found the real nightmare not in the pollution, but in the humidity and heat.|date=2008-08-09|accessdate=2008-08-12] Despite the pollution levels on August 10 far exceeding the World Health Organization's safety level in Beijing, the precipitation present in the mountainous part women's race would have decreased the hazardous potential of any haze. [citeweb|url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hyX4mPg2U9mpr9RrUqIlg4SCuXZAD927K7G0F|title=Beijing air improves with wind and rain|publisher=Google News, Associated Press|author=Henry Sanderson|date=2008-07-29|accessdate=2008-08-16] citeweb|url=http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2008/s2330631.htm|title=Wet weather disrupts Olympic schedule|publisher=AM (ABC Radio)|author=Karen Barlow|date=2008-08-11|accessdate=2008-08-16] What the cyclists found to be the main hindrance in the men's race were the climatic conditions, especially problems arising out of the high levels of heat and humidity.

In anticipation of the heat, many riders, such as Katherine Bates (who eventually did not finish), prepared by wearing cooling vests before the race and stocked up on ice packs during it. Other riders did not wear undershirts in expectation of warm weather. These proved to be a misjudgments, as conditions proved to be cooler in the Great Wall section - C to F|19|wiki=yes compared to C to F|26 - than on the previous day, and there were thunderstorms, resulting in persistently heavy rain and strong winds,citeweb|url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/olympics08/?id=live/2|title=Women's road race, complete live report|publisher=Cycling News|author=Susan Westemeyer|date=2008-08-10|accessdate=2008-08-13] which also negatively impacted upon riders who had prepared for or expected warm weather.

Pre-race favorites

Judith Arndt, the German rider who finished second at the 2004 Summer Olympics, was considered to be a strong favorite. Arndt's most recent major success was a first place finish at the 2008 La Coupe du Monde Cycliste Féminine de Montréal, and her form in the months preceding the race was excellent.citeweb|url=http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/headlines/cyclingroad/n214522963.shtml|title=Road Cycling Day 2 Preview: Women's Road Race|publisher=The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games|date=2008-08-09|accessdate=2008-08-14] Other formidable threats included UCI Women's Road standings leader Marianne Vos, Briton Nicole Cooke, who said she had greater confidence in her team on this occasion than in 2004, when she finished fifth, and Noemi Cantele of Italy. [citeweb|url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2008/olympics08/?id=default|title=World's best bound for Beijing|publisher=Cycling News|author=Greg Johnson|accessdate=2008-08-13] Another nationality of riders thought to comprise a strong team were the Australians, including Sara Carrigan (the defending champion), Oenone Wood (winner of the Australian Road Race 2008), and Katherine Bates, all of whom could work on behalf of each other. Riders noted as adept at climbing, and therefore suited to this course, included Cooke, Vos, and Susanne Ljungskog.

Although not considered to be a contender, one notable former champion participating in the race was 49 year old Jeannie Longo from France, who won the road race in 1996, and who had competed in the inaugral event in 1984, making this her seventh appearance. [citeweb|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/olympics/cycling/7547703.stm|title=Veteran Longo in no hurry to quit|publisher=BBC Sport|date=2008-08-07|accessdate=2008-08-16]

Course

The Urban Road Cycling Course (one of Beijing's nine temporary venues) was convert|102.6|km|abbr=on in its entirety, and the women's race was a distance of convert|226.4|km|abbr=on.citeweb|url=http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/sports/headlines/cyclingroad/n214525916.shtml|title=Road Cycling Day 2 Review: Cooke nets soggy gold|publisher=The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games|date=2008-08-10|accessdate=2008-09-05] citeweb|url=http://en.beijing2008.cn/venues/crc/headlines/n214487932.shtml|title=Spectators Guide to Urban Road Cycling Course|publisher=The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games|accessdate=2008-08-10] The race's starting line was located at the Yongdingmen Gate, a remnant of Beijing's old city wall, which is a part of the Chongwen District of northern Beijing. The course ended at the Juyong Pass in the Changping District.

The route passed through a total of eight districts: Chongwen, Xuanwu, Dongcheng, Xicheng, Chaoyang, Haidian, Changping, and Yanqing. The course's scenery, described by "The Guardian" newspaper (UK) as "visually sumptuous",citeweb|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/aug/09/olympicscycling.olympics2008|title=Olympics: Sanchez clinches road race gold for Spain|publisher="The Guardian"|author=William Fotherington|date=2008-08-09|accessdate=2008-08-10] included landmarks such as the Temple of Heaven, the Great Hall of the People, Tiananmen Square, the Yonghe Temple, and sections of the Great Wall of China, which were passed through as the course journeyed from urban Beijing into the countryside. It also passed the architecture of the 2008 Olympics, including the Beijing National Stadium and Beijing National Aquatics Center (known colloquially as the "Bird's Nest" and "Water Cube").

The women's race layout, which differed most significantly from the men's in that it was less than half its length, saw the riders make two loops back-and-forth between the Badaling and Juyong Passes. The early sections of the race took place within central Beijing; consequently, the gradient of this part of the race was relatively flat. At approximately the convert|78.8|km|abbr=on point in the race the riders reached the Badaling section of the Great Wall, and began their first of seven convert|23.8|km|abbr=on loops. The riders encountered an increase in the gradient at this point, with the Badaling Pass gaining convert|338.2|m|lk=on|abbr=on in elevation over a distance of convert|12.4|km|abbr=on from the start of the circuit to the highest point. From there the cyclists rode over a false flat before descending a highway towards the Juyong Pass. The final convert|350|m|abbr=on of the race gave the riders a moderately steep climb to contend with, which was designed to ensure an exciting finale should several riders have been grouped together at the end of the race, as there were.

Due to security regulations put in place by the Olympic organizers, no spectators were permitted to stand roadside along the course. This decision proved to be controversial: several prominent figures in cycling, including UCI president Pat McQuaid and the riders Stuart O'Grady and Cadel Evans (both Australia) who competed in the men's race, spoke out against it. McQuaid and O'Grady both 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. [citeweb|url=http://www.aol.co.nz/news/story/UCI-head-regrets-lack-of-spectators-at-road-race/847311/index.html|title=UCI head regrets lack of spectators at road race|publisher=AOL|date=2008-08-13|accessdate=2008-08-25] Cycling Australia's reaction to the cyclists' complaints was to request that security restrictions be eased for the time trial to follow,citeweb|url=http://news.ninemsn.com.au/olympics/article.aspx?id=611959|title=Cycling race 'was silent murder'|publisher=Associated Press|author=Mat Mackay|date=2008-08-10|accessdate=2008-08-11] [citeweb|url=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/beijing_olympics/story/0,27313,24155306-5014104,00.html|title='Ghost course' haunts cyclists Stuart O'Grady and Cadel Evans|author=Ben English|publisher="The Australian"|date=2008-08-10|accessdate=2008-08-12] but they were not. [citeweb|url=http://www.foxsports.com.au/beijing_olympics/story/0,27313,24169949-5014104,00.html|title=China ignores pleas for better access to the cycling route|author=Leo Schlink|publisher=FOX Sports|date=2008-08-13|accessdate=2008-08-13]

Race

The weather was unseasonably cool, but the roads were dry but cloudy at the start of the race. The clouds brought steady rainfall midway through the race, making conditions challenging.

Several incidents during the race led to criticism, first, Gu Sun-Geun (South Korea) lost control of her bike, bringing others down with her. She eventually found herself falling into a concrete ditch on the side of the highway. Natalia Boyarskaya (Russia) who had built a lead of 59 seconds over the top of Badaling, had to stop when she couldn't see which way to choose. The poor marking of the designated race course led to similar confusion on several other occasions.

The chase was led by Christine Thorburn (United States), bringing Boyarskayas lead down to 34 seconds for the bell lap. Emma Pooley (Great Britain) and Tatiana Guderzo (Italy) rode away from the bunch on the climb, catching Boyarskaya and form a three rider breakaway with convert|22|km|abbr=on to go, a steady pace set by the German team in the bunch caught them soon after.

Guderzo attacked with about convert|13|km|abbr=on to go over the final summit. She was soon joined by Christiane Soeder (Austria), Emma Johansson (Sweden), Nicole Cooke (Great Britain) and Linda Villumsen (Denmark). With 7 kilometres remaining, the group had gained 16 seconds on the main peloton. On of the pre-race favourites, Marianne Vos (Netherlands) hesitated before leading a desperate chase.

Cooke looked out of contention as the five came round the final bend, but she came around the other riders with an explosive sprint with convert|200|m|abbr=on to go. She claimed the gold medal in the with a clear margin. Johansson came in second and Guderzo hung on to win the bronze. Vos eventually led the bunch over the finish line 21 seconds back.

It was later revealed that Cooke had held back intentionally, as she was using lightweight tyres not suited to weather conditions.cite web| url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/2535990/Timing-to-perfection-as-Nicole-Cooke-wins-gold-in-womens-cycling-road-race-at-Games.html| title=Timing to perfection as Nicole Cooke wins gold in women's cycling road race at Games| author=Brendan Gallagher| publisher=The Telegraph|date=2008-08-10|accessdate=2008-09-05] 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."cite web| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/aug/11/olympicscycling.olympics20082|title=Olympics: Cooke does her homework and gives Britain first gold of Games|author=William Fotheringham|publisher=The Guardian|date=2008-08-11|2008-09-05] Cooke's victory was the result of meticulous planning, as the team had ridden the course prior to the race and formulated the winning plan.

Cookes gold was notable as the first Olympic gold medal to be won by a Welsh competitor in 36 years, the last being Richard Meade in the three-day event in 1972 Olympic Games.

Doping incident

On August 11, 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.citeweb|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/aug/11/olympicscycling.olympics20083?gusrc=rss&feed=sport|title=Spanish cyclist Moreno tests positive for EPO|publisher=The Guardian|author=Staff and agencies|date=2008-08-11|2008-08-13] Moreno had not competed in the race; in fact, she fled immediately after being tested, before the results were disclosed.

The substance in question was erythropoietin (better known as EPO). After providing a urine sample, Moreno suffered a panic attack and flew back to Madrid. This all occurred on July 31, the same day that she and her team arrived. The IOC referred the matter to the International Cycling Union, who confirmed the positive result, and Moreno was stripped of her Games accreditation. A statement on her website read, "She does not feel ready to justify or explain her reasons for leaving the village."

Final classification

The final results for the event are as follows: [citeweb|url=http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/CR/C73R/CRW012101.shtml#CRW012101|title=Final Results Women's Road Race|publisher=The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games|date=2008-08-10|accessdate=2008-08-12]

References

External links

* [http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/INF/CR/RPT/CRW012101.shtml Women's Road Race] at the Beijing 2008 website