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

Women's cycling road race at the Games of the XXIX Olympiad
Nicole Cooke, gold medalist
Venue	Urban Road Cycling Course 126.4 km (78.5 mi)
Date	10 August 2008 (2008-08-10)
Competitors	66 from 33 nations
Winning time	3:32:24 35.71 km/h (22.19 mph)
Medalists
01 ! Nicole Cooke  Great Britain 02 ! Emma Johansson  Sweden 03 ! Tatiana Guderzo  Italy
← 2004 2012 →

01 !		Nicole Cooke	Great Britain
02 !		Emma Johansson	Sweden
03 !		Tatiana Guderzo	Italy

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) total. 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 most of the race made conditions difficult for the competitors. 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.

The race marked the first positive drug test of the 2008 Olympic Games, by María Isabel Moreno of Spain. She was scheduled to compete in this event and the time trial to follow, but left Beijing on 31 July, before the race. The International Olympic Committee said on 11 August that she had tested positive for EPO. This left 66 cyclists to compete, one fewer than in 2004.