title: 2008 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race
text: # 2008 UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race
  
  The Men's Individual Road Race of the 2008 UCI Road World Championships cycling event took place on September 28 in Varese, Italy. The course comprised 15 laps around 17.35-kilometre route, making a total distance of 260.25 km. Each lap featured two ascents: the first at Via Montello (6.5% gradient for 1.15 kilometres); and the second at Ronchi (4.5% for 3.13 kilometres). The highest elevation measured 480 metres (1,570 ft) at Via Montello.
  
  Pre-race favourites included Paolo Bettini, who was trying for an unprecedented third consecutive title, and the 1999, 2001 and 2004 champion Óscar Freire.
  
  The race was won by Alessandro Ballan, with his fellow Italian Damiano Cunego in second and Matti Breschel of Denmark taking the bronze medal.
  
  ## Final classification
  
  | Rank | Rider | Country | Time |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | | Alessandro Ballan | Italy | 6h 37'30" |
  | | Damiano Cunego | Italy | at 3" |
  | | Matti Breschel | Denmark | s.t. |
  | 4 | Davide Rebellin | Italy | s.t. |
  | 5 | Andriy Hrivko | Ukraine | s.t. |
  | 6 | Joaquim Rodríguez | Spain | s.t. |
  | 7 | Fabian Wegmann | Germany | s.t. |
  | 8 | Christian Pfannberger | Austria | s.t. |
  | 9 | Nick Nuyens | Belgium | s.t. |
  | 10 | Robert Gesink | Netherlands | s.t. |
  | 11 | Jurgen Van Goolen | Belgium | s.t. |
  | 12 | Thomas Löfkvist | Sweden | s.t. |
  | 13 | Chris Sørensen | Denmark | at 6" |
  | 14 | Assan Bazayev | Kazakhstan | at 58" |
  | 15 | Philippe Gilbert | Belgium | s.t. |
  | 16 | Kristjan Fajt | Slovenia | at 1'01" |
  | 17 | Greg Van Avermaet | Belgium | s.t. |
  | 18 | Gorazd Štangelj | Slovenia | s.t. |
  | 19 | Jérôme Pineau | France | at 1'13" |
  | 20 | Vladimir Karpets | Russia | s.t. |
  | 21 | Sérgio Paulinho | Portugal | s.t. |
  | 22 | Samuel Sánchez | Spain | at 1'22" |
  | 23 | Steven Cozza | United States | at 1'40" |
  | 24 | Hrvoje Miholjević | Croatia | s.t. |
  | 25 | Rubens Bertogliati | Switzerland | at 2'14" |
  | 26 | Amaël Moinard | France | s.t. |
  | 27 | Alexandre Bazhenov | Russia | at 3'24" |
  | 28 | Paolo Bettini | Italy | at 4'53" |
  | 29 | Erik Zabel | Germany | s.t. |
  | 30 | Dimitry Muravyev | Kazakhstan | s.t. |
  | 31 | Matteo Tosatto | Italy | s.t. |
  | 32 | Alexander Efimkin | Russia | s.t. |
  | 33 | Michael Barry | Canada | s.t. |
  | 34 | Thomas Rohregger | Austria | s.t. |
  | 35 | Julian Dean | New Zealand | s.t. |
  | 36 | Janek Tombak | Estonia | s.t. |
  | 37 | Alejandro Valverde | Spain | s.t. |
  | 38 | Tom Boonen | Belgium | s.t. |
  | 39 | Óscar Freire | Spain | s.t. |
  | Rank | Rider | Country | Time |
  | 40 | Gustav Larsson | Sweden | s.t. |
  | 41 | Fränk Schleck | Luxembourg | s.t. |
  | 41 | Sergey Lagutin | Uzbekistan | s.t. |
  | 43 | Karsten Kroon | Netherlands | s.t. |
  | 44 | Alexandr Kolobnev | Russia | s.t. |
  | 45 | Nuno Ribeiro | Portugal | s.t. |
  | 46 | John Gadret | France | s.t. |
  | 47 | Stefan Schumacher | Germany | s.t. |
  | 48 | Janez Brajkovič | Slovenia | s.t. |
  | 49 | Russell Downing | Great Britain | s.t. |
  | 50 | Oliver Zaugg | Switzerland | s.t. |
  | 51 | Roman Kreuziger | Czech Republic | s.t. |
  | 52 | Nicolas Vogondy | France | s.t. |
  | 53 | Sylvain Chavanel | France | s.t. |
  | 54 | Mikhaylo Khalilov | Ukraine | s.t. |
  | 55 | Matthew Lloyd | Australia | s.t. |
  | 56 | Vladimir Gusev | Russia | s.t. |
  | 57 | Lars Petter Nordhaug | Norway | at 5'20" |
  | 58 | José Mendes | Portugal | at 8'15" |
  | 59 | Aleksejs Saramotins | Latvia | at 10'33" |
  | 60 | Félix Cárdenas | Colombia | s.t. |
  | 61 | Kjell Carlström | Finland | s.t. |
  | 62 | Marcus Ljungqvist | Sweden | s.t. |
  | 63 | Tyler Farrar | United States | s.t. |
  | 64 | Borut Božič | Slovenia | s.t. |
  | 65 | Frank Høj | Denmark | s.t. |
  | 66 | Maarten Tjallingii | Netherlands | s.t. |
  | 67 | Roman Klimov | Russia | at 10'54" |
  | 68 | Hubert Krys | Poland | s.t. |
  | 69 | Péter Kusztor | Hungary | s.t. |
  | 70 | Carlos José Ochoa | Venezuela | s.t. |
  | 71 | Geoffroy Lequatre | France | s.t. |
  | 72 | Leonardo Duque | Colombia | s.t. |
  | 73 | José Rujano | Venezuela | s.t. |
  | 74 | Oleg Chuzhda | Ukraine | s.t. |
  | 75 | Oļegs Meļehs | Latvia | at 11'01" |
  | 76 | Lucas Euser | United States | at 22'49" |
  | 77 | Yukiya Arashiro | Japan | at 22'50" |
  
  ### Did not finish
  
  128 riders failed to finish the race. Levi Leipheimer of the United States did not start the race.
  
  | Rider | Country |
  | - | - |
  | Juan Manuel Gárate Cepa | Spain |
  | Kevin De Weert | Belgium |
  | Chris Froome | Great Britain |
  | Gerald Ciolek | Germany |
  | Kazuo Inoue | Japan |
  | Stefan Hristov | Bulgaria |
  | Juan Pablo Dotti | Argentina |
  | Nebojša Jovanović | Serbia |
  | Alexsandr Dyachenko | Kazakhstan |
  | Stefan Rucker | Austria |
  | Vladimir Zagorodniy | Ukraine |
  | Grégory Rast | Switzerland |
  | Stijn Devolder | Belgium |
  | Bram Tankink | Netherlands |
  | Mario Aerts | Belgium |
  | Yaroslav Popovych | Ukraine |
  | Benjamín Noval | Spain |
  | Marzio Bruseghin | Italy |
  | Andrea Tonti | Italy |
  | Andy Schleck | Luxembourg |
  | Alberto Contador | Spain |
  | Christophe Le Mével | France |
  | Ezequiel Mosquera | Spain |
  | Danilo Wyss | Switzerland |
  | Andreas Dietziker | Switzerland |
  | Christian Knees | Germany |
  | Michael Rogers | Australia |
  | Martin Velits | Slovakia |
  | Luca Paolini | Italy |
  | André Greipel | Germany |
  | Robbie McEwen | Australia |
  | Nikita Eskov | Russia |
  | David Loosli | Switzerland |
  | Rein Taaramäe | Estonia |
  | Jackson Rodríguez | Venezuela |
  | Philip Deignan | Ireland |
  | Daryl Impey | South Africa |
  | Nelson Victorino | Portugal |
  | Przemysław Niemiec | Poland |
  | Christian Meier | Canada |
  | Steven de Jongh | Netherlands |
  | Marc de Maar | Netherlands |
  | Koos Moerenhout | Netherlands |
  | William Walker | Australia |
  | Žolt Dér | Serbia |
  | Sebastian Lang | Germany |
  | Tom Stamsnijder | Netherlands |
  | Marcus Burghardt | Germany |
  | Vladimir Miholjević | Croatia |
  | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Norway |
  | Anders Lund | Denmark |
  | Trent Lowe | Australia |
  | Martin Mareš | Czech Republic |
  | Sandy Casar | France |
  | Maxime Monfort | Belgium |
  | Steve Fogen | Luxembourg |
  | Mauricio Soler | Colombia |
  | Simon Gerrans | Australia |
  | Allan Davis | Australia |
  | Christian Poos | Luxembourg |
  | Richard Ochoa | Venezuela |
  | Peter Velits | Slovakia |
  | Thomas Frei | Switzerland |
  | Matej Stare | Slovenia |
  | Rider | Country |
  | Matija Kvasina | Croatia |
  | Gabriele Bosisio | Italy |
  | Evgeny Petrov | Russia |
  | Dominique Rollin | Canada |
  | Hidenori Nodera | Japan |
  | Adam Hansen | Australia |
  | František Raboň | Czech Republic |
  | Christoff Van Heerden | South Africa |
  | Jempy Drucker | Luxembourg |
  | Jakob Fuglsang | Denmark |
  | Maciej Bodnar | Poland |
  | Richard Mascarañas | Uruguay |
  | Vincenzo Centrone | Luxembourg |
  | Muradjan Khalmuratov | Uzbekistan |
  | Matthew Goss | Australia |
  | Lars Ytting Bak | Denmark |
  | David Millar | Great Britain |
  | Benoît Joachim | Luxembourg |
  | Manuel Medina | Venezuela |
  | Sebastian Langeveld | Netherlands |
  | Luis León Sánchez | Spain |
  | Ignatas Konovalovas | Lithuania |
  | Kevin Evans | South Africa |
  | Geraint Thomas | Great Britain |
  | Stephen Cummings | Great Britain |
  | Martin Elmiger | Switzerland |
  | Rodger Aiken | Ireland |
  | David Zabriskie | United States |
  | Stéphane Augé | France |
  | Franklin Chacón | Venezuela |
  | Markus Zberg | Switzerland |
  | Dariusz Baranowski | Poland |
  | Grega Bole | Slovenia |
  | Rida Cador | Hungary |
  | Gergely Ivanics | Hungary |
  | Laurent Didier | Luxembourg |
  | Darren Lill | South Africa |
  | Brent Bookwalter | United States |
  | Gerardo Fernández | Argentina |
  | Yauheni Hutarovich | Belarus |
  | Ruslan Podgornyy | Ukraine |
  | Maroš Kováč | Slovakia |
  | Erki Pütsep | Estonia |
  | Kurt Asle Arvesen | Norway |
  | Glen Chadwick | New Zealand |
  | Ricardo Mestre | Portugal |
  | Henry Raabe | Costa Rica |
  | Luis Fernando Macías | Mexico |
  | Normunds Lasis | Latvia |
  | Robert Hunter | South Africa |
  | Matti Helminen | Finland |
  | Boris Shpilevsky | Russia |
  | Krasimir Vasilev | Bulgaria |
  | Dragan Spasic | Serbia |
  | Ian Stannard | Great Britain |
  | Claude Wolter | Luxembourg |
  | David George | South Africa |
  | Markus Fothen | Germany |
  | Tiago Machado | Portugal |
  | Nicolas Roche | Ireland |
  | Vladimir Tuychiev | Uzbekistan |
  | Łukasz Bodnar | Poland |
  | Marek Rutkiewicz | Poland |
  | Adil Jelloul | Morocco |
  
  ## Nation qualification
  
  * 14 to be enrolled, 9 to start
  * Spain
  * Italy
  * Belgium
  * Germany
  * Luxembourg
  * Australia
  * France
  * Switzerland
  * Russia
  * Netherlands
  * 9 to be enrolled, 6 to start
  * South Africa
  * United States
  * Venezuela
  * Iran
  * Slovenia
  * Poland
  * Ukraine
  * Great Britain
  * Portugal
  * Denmark
  * 5 to be enrolled, 3 to start
  * Tunisia
  * Argentina
  * Colombia
  * Canada
  * Japan
  * Uzbekistan
  * Austria
  * Sweden
  * Croatia
  * Ireland
  * Hungary
  * Bulgaria
  * Slovakia
  * Latvia
  * Serbia
  * Estonia
  * New Zealand
  * Czech Republic
  * Finland
  * Norway
  * Kazakhstan
  * 2 to be enrolled, 1 to start
  * Morocco
  * Cuba
  * Costa Rica
  * Ecuador
  * Mexico
  * Uruguay
  * Belarus
  * Sri Lanka
  * Lithuania
  