2007 UCI Road World Championships – Women's road race

Race

Although the sun was out at the start of the race, the road were still wet and treacherous. The first victim of the conditions was Toni Bradshaw of New Zealand, this was the first of many early crashes, which included Zulfiya Zabirova.

The race started at a gentle pace but the climbs immediately stretched out the field. Rosario Rodriguez Maria of Spain attacked but was not successful, so the front of the peloton remained quiet. The first lap was completed in just over 33 minutes, with an average speed of 34.709 km/h.

The second lap was equally uneventful, except for Christine Thorburn of the United States who suffered a slight mechanical. Her chain came off on an uphill section, bringing her to a standstill and impeding the progress of several other riders. The second lap was completed in 33'07", an average speed of 34.604 km/h.

The Brazilian Clemilda Fernandes Silva attempted to attack on the third lap, but was marked by the strongest teams. The peloton completed the third lap marginally slower, in 33'32" (average speed 34.494 km/h).

The Italian rider Tatiana Guderzo launched an attack on lap four. Katheryn Curi (USA), Oxana Kozonchuk (Russia) and Hanka Kupfernagel (Germany) responded immediately. Kupfernagel marked attacks throughout the race, attempting to ensure a sprint finish for teammate Judith Arndt, Kupfernagel had already won a gold medal in the time trial. Trixi Worrack was the second rider to drop her chain on a climb, but a passing teammate gave her a little push to get her going again. Lap four was completed nearly a minute faster than the previous lap, with an average speed 34.66 km/h.

It was Guderzo who attacked again on the fifth lap, with the first serious attack of the race. She quickly built 10 second lead, which was then extended to 20 seconds. Other riders began to attack including Spaniards, Australians and Swiss riders, but the German team was trying to keep the race under control and no others were able to get away. Guderzo was within the bunch's sights when an advertising barrier was blown over, bringing down several riders, including Priska Doppmann, Maribel Moreno Allue, Regina Bruins and Edita Pučinskaitė. The peloton's rhythm was sufficiently disrupted so that Guderzo was once more able to increase her lead.

With two laps to go, Guderzo had a second lead, but it was never more than 25 seconds. Noemi Cantele was 43 seconds behind having been caught up in the crash, but with the help of her team she quickly caught up. It was the turn of the American team set the pace, as Amber Neben attacked, but Cantele went with her, driving the break as they caught and passed Guderzo, gaining 25 seconds on the bunch. But the gap began to fall as the bunch worked hard up the climbs, catching Neben and Cantele two kilometres before the start of the final lap. This penultimae lap had been the fastest so far, completed in 31'37", an average speed of 36.246 km/h.

Defending champion Marianne Vos and Cantele attacked on the first climb of the final lap, and built small lead. It was Marta Bastianelli's turn to attack from the front of the bunch, she did so strongly, taking advantage of other riders' hesitation. A group of around a dozen riders was able to catch back up to the second group, which consisted of seven riders.

Bastianelli increased her lead to 20 seconds, and despite a brief problem with her chain, she was soon approximately 15 seconds ahead of the small chase group made up of 22 riders. She had wanted to avoid sprinting head to head with Marianne Vos; her tactics worked as she crossed the line first. Vos came in to take the bunch sprint and second position, just in front of Giorgia Bronzini.

Final classification

September 29, 2007: Stuttgart, 133.7 km

Did not finish

61 riders failed to finish the race.

References

References

1. (2007-09-29). "Bastianelli caps dominating Italian performance with gold". Cyclingnews.com.
2. (2007-09-29}} {{Dead link). "Bastianelli wins world title". Eurosport.
3. "Official Final Results – Women's Road Race". UCI.