2008 in men's road cycling
# 2008 in men's road cycling

In 2008, for the first time in ten years, two Grand Tours were won by one rider, the Spaniard Alberto Contador. Alessandro Ballan succeeded fellow Italian Paolo Bettini as World Champion, winning the road race in his home country, where Varese hosted the World Championships for the second time in history. Bettini and German sprinter Erik Zabel were among the most prominent riders to quit after this season, while Mario Cipollini made a brief comeback in the early months of the year.

Despite even tighter controls and warnings concerning doping, and the introduction of the blood passport by the UCI, several major races, including the Giro and Tour were faced with positive tests. In addition, the ongoing feud between the UCI and the race organizations almost came to a definite break in March, when the UCI threatened to suspend riders participating in ASO's Paris–Nice. The cycling federation's ProTour seemed bankrupt halfway through the year when all remaining licensed teams announced their withdrawal. However, at the start of 2009, 16 teams saw their ProTour license renewed and two new teams joined the elite division of cycling. Crédit Agricole and Gerolsteiner stopped sponsorship of a team, and were not succeeded by new sponsors. Other than Gerolsteiner, many German companies who participated in cycling sponsorship in recent years withdrew their financial backing after this year's latest of doping cases related to German cycling. As a result, fewer professional teams and races, among them the Deutschland Tour, will be part of the 2009 season.

Amongst professional riders, Mark Cavendish was the most successful with 17 victories, including 4 in the Tour de France and two in the Giro d'Italia. His team, Team High Road (which got a new sponsor midway through the season, ever since going by the name Team Columbia), was by far the most successful with 77 victories. Alejandro Valverde was the most successful allround rider of the year based on the CQ ranking.

After the end of the season, seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong announced his comeback to competitive road cycling for 2009, with the Astana Team.

## Grand Tours

| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Tour de France | Jul 5 – Jul 27 | Carlos Sastre | Cadel Evans | Bernhard Kohl |
| Giro d'Italia | May 10 – Jun 1 | Alberto Contador | Riccardo Riccò | Marzio Bruseghin |
| Vuelta a España | Aug 30 – Sep 21 | Alberto Contador | Levi Leipheimer | Carlos Sastre |

## World Championships Varese

| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| World Championship Road Race | Sep 28 | Alessandro Ballan | Damiano Cunego | Matti Breschel |
| World Championship Time Trial | Sep 25 | Bert Grabsch | Svein Tuft | David Zabriskie |

## Olympic Games Beijing

| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Olympic Road Race | Aug 9 | Samuel Sánchez | Davide Rebellin | Fabian Cancellara |
| Olympic Time Trial | Aug 13 | Fabian Cancellara | Gustav Larsson | Levi Leipheimer |

## Monument Classics

| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Milan–San Remo | Mar 22 | Fabian Cancellara | Filippo Pozzato | Philippe Gilbert |
| Tour of Flanders | Apr 6 | Stijn Devolder | Nick Nuyens | Juan Antonio Flecha |
| Paris–Roubaix | Apr 13 | Tom Boonen | Fabian Cancellara | Alessandro Ballan |
| Liège–Bastogne–Liège | Apr 27 | Alejandro Valverde | Davide Rebellin | Fränk Schleck |
| Giro di Lombardia | Oct 18 | Damiano Cunego | Janez Brajkovič | Rigoberto Urán |

## UCI ProTour

| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Tour Down Under | Jan 22–27 | André Greipel | Allan Davis | José Joaquín Rojas |
| Vuelta al País Vasco | Apr 7–12 | Alberto Contador | Cadel Evans | Thomas Dekker |
| Gent–Wevelgem | Apr 9 | Óscar Freire | Aurélien Clerc | Wouter Weylandt |
| Amstel Gold Race | Apr 27 | Damiano Cunego | Fränk Schleck | Alejandro Valverde |
| Tour de Romandie | Apr 29 – May 4 | Andreas Klöden | Roman Kreuziger | Marco Pinotti |
| Volta a Catalunya | May 19–25 | Gustavo César | Rigoberto Urán | Rémi Pauriol |
| Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré | Jun 8–15 | Alejandro Valverde | Cadel Evans | Levi Leipheimer |
| Tour de Suisse | Jun 14–22 | Roman Kreuziger | Andreas Klöden | Igor Antón |
| Clásica de San Sebastián | Aug 2 | Alejandro Valverde | Alexandr Kolobnev | Davide Rebellin |
| Tour of Benelux | Aug 20–27 | Iván Gutiérrez | Sébastien Rosseler | Michael Rogers |
| GP Ouest-France | Aug 25 | Pierrick Fédrigo | Alessandro Ballan | David López |
| Deutschland Tour | Aug 29 – Sep 6 | Linus Gerdemann | Thomas Lövkvist | Janez Brajkovič |
| Vattenfall Cyclassics | Sep 7 | Robbie McEwen | Mark Renshaw | Allan Davis |
| Tour de Pologne | Sep 14–20 | Jens Voigt | Lars Bak | Franco Pellizotti |

## 2.HC Category races

| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Tour de Langkawi | Feb 9–17 | Ruslan Ivanov | Matthieu Sprick | Gustavo César |
| Tour of California | Feb 17–24 | Levi Leipheimer | David Millar | Christian Vande Velde |
| Paris–Nice | Mar 9–16 | Davide Rebellin | Rinaldo Nocentini | Yaroslav Popovych |
| Tirreno–Adriatico | Mar 12–18 | Fabian Cancellara | Enrico Gasparotto | Thomas Lövkvist |
| Critérium International | Mar 29–30 | Jens Voigt | Gustav Larsson | Luis León Sánchez |
| Three Days of De Panne | Apr 1–3 | Joost Posthuma | Manuel Quinziato | Enrico Gasparotto |
| Tour de Georgia | Apr 21–27 | Kanstantsin Sivtsov | Trent Lowe | Levi Leipheimer |
| Four Days of Dunkirk | May 6–11 | Stéphane Augé | Clément Lhotellerie | Pierrick Fédrigo |
| Bayern Rundfahrt | May 28 – Jun 1 | Christian Knees | Andreas Dietziker | Niki Terpstra |
| Tour de Luxembourg | Jun 4–8 | Joost Posthuma | Michael Albasini | Fränk Schleck |
| Euskal Bizikleta | Jun 6–8 | Eros Capecchi | Igor Antón | Adrián Palomares |
| Tour of Austria | July 6–13 | Thomas Rohregger | Vladimir Gusev | Ruslan Pidgornyy |
| Tour of Qinghai Lake | July 11–20 | Tyler Hamilton | Marek Rutkiewicz | Hossein Askari |
| Tour de Wallonie | July 26–30 | Sergei Ivanov | Greg Van Avermaet | Paolo Bettini |
| Danmark Rundt | July 30 – Aug 3 | Jakob Fuglsang | Steve Cummings | Tom Stamsnijder |
| Vuelta a Burgos | Aug 5–9 | Xabier Zandio Echaide | Iñigo Landaluze | Walter Pedraza |
| Volta a Portugal | Aug 13–24 | David Blanco | Héctor Guerra | Rubén Plaza |

## 1.HC Category races

| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Omloop Het Volk | Mar 1 | Philippe Gilbert | Nick Nuyens | Thor Hushovd |
| E3 Prijs Vlaanderen | Mar 29 | Kurt Asle Arvesen | David Kopp | Greg Van Avermaet |
| GP Miguel Induráin | Apr 5 | Fabian Wegmann | Michael Albasini | Joaquim Rodríguez |
| Scheldeprijs | Apr 16 | Mark Cavendish | Tom Boonen | Robbie McEwen |
| La Flèche Wallonne | Apr 23 | Kim Kirchen | Cadel Evans | Damiano Cunego |
| Rund um den Henninger Turm | May 1 | Karsten Kroon | Davide Rebellin | Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano |
| Commerce Bank International Championship | Jun 8 | Matti Breschel | Kirk O'Bee | Fred Rodriguez |
| GP du Canton d'Argovie | Jun 8 | Lloyd Mondory | Manuel Quinziato | Enrico Gasparotto |
| Dutch Food Valley Classic | Jun 11 | Robert Förster | Sven Krauss | Niko Eeckhout |
| Tre Valli Varesine | Aug 19 | Francesco Ginanni | Leonardo Bertagnolli | Damiano Cunego |
| Giro del Veneto | Aug 31 | Francesco Ginanni | Serhiy Honchar | Andrea Masciarelli |
| Coppa Placci | Sep 6 | Luca Paolini | Enrico Gasparotto | Mauro Finetto |
| Paris–Brussels | Sep 13 | Robbie McEwen | Gert Steegmans | Luca Paolini |
| GP de Fourmies | Sep 14 | Giovanni Visconti | Stéphane Goubert | Fabio Sacchi |
| Giro del Lazio | Oct 5 | Francesco Masciarelli | Filippo Pozzato | Danilo Di Luca |
| Giro dell'Emilia | Oct 11 | Danilo Di Luca | Davide Rebellin | Alexandr Kolobnev |
| Paris–Tours | Oct 12 | Philippe Gilbert | Jan Kuyckx | Sébastien Turgot |
| Giro del Piemonte | Oct 16 | Daniele Bennati | Luca Paolini | Alexandre Usov |
| Japan Cup | Oct 26 | Damiano Cunego | Giovanni Visconti | Ivan Basso |

## National Road Race Championships

| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Australia | Jan 13 | Matthew Lloyd | Adam Hansen | Rory Sutherland |
| Austria | Jun 29 | Christian Pfannberger | Hans Peter Obwaller | Stefan Rucker |
| Belgium | Jun 29 | Jürgen Roelandts | Sven Vanthourenhout | Niko Eeckhout |
| Canada | Jul 6 | Christian Meier | Bruno Langlois | Jacob Erker |
| Czech Republic & Slovakia | Jun 29 | Matej Jurčo | Roman Broniš | Petr Benčík |
| Denmark | Jun 29 | Nicki Sørensen | Matti Breschel | Jens-Erik Madsen |
| France | Jun 29 | Nicolas Vogondy | Arnaud Coyot | Julien Loubet |
| Germany | Jun 29 | Fabian Wegmann | Erik Zabel | Gerald Ciolek |
| Great Britain | Jun 29 | Robert Hayles | Peter Kennaugh | Dean Downing |
| Ireland | Jun 29 | Dan Martin | Paídi O'Brien | Brian Kenneally |
| Italy | Jun 29 | Filippo Simeoni | Giovanni Visconti | Filippo Pozzato |
| Luxembourg | Jun 27 | Fränk Schleck | Benoît Joachim | Christian Poos |
| Netherlands | Jun 29 | Lars Boom | Koos Moerenhout | Steven de Jongh |
| New Zealand | Jan 13 | Julian Dean | Heath Blackgrove | Scott Lyttle |
| Norway | Jun 29 | Kurt Asle Arvesen | Stian Remme | Lars Petter Nordhaug |
| Portugal | Jun 29 | João Cabreira | Tiago Machado | Cândido Barbosa |
| Russia | Jun 29 | Sergey Ivanov | Aleksandr Bazhenov | Roman Klimov |
| Spain | Jun 29 | Alejandro Valverde | Óscar Sevilla | Óscar Pereiro |
| Sweden | Jun 29 | Jonas Ljungblad | Nicklas Axelsson | Thomas Lövkvist |
| Switzerland | Jun 29 | Markus Zberg | Martin Elmiger | Mathias Frank |
| Ukraine | Jun 28 | Ruslan Pidgornyy | Denis Kostiuk | Volodymyr Zagorodniy |
| USA | Aug 31 | Tyler Hamilton | Blake Caldwell | Danny Pate |

## National Time Trial Championships

| Race | Date | Winner | Second | Third |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Australia | Jan 10 | Adam Hansen | Rory Sutherland | Ben Day |
| Austria | Jun 28 | Stefan Denifl | Josef Benetseder | Matthias Brändle |
| Belgium | Aug 15 | Stijn Devolder | Leif Hoste | Dominique Cornu |
| Canada | Jul 4 | Svein Tuft | Ryan Roth | Zach Bell |
| Czech Republic & Slovakia | Jun 27 | František Raboň | Jan Hruška | Matej Jurčo |
| Denmark | Jun 26 | Lars Bak | Frank Høj | Michael Blaudzun |
| France | Jun 26 | Sylvain Chavanel | Christophe Kern | Noan Lelarge |
| Germany | Jun 27 | Bert Grabsch | Stefan Schumacher | Tony Martin |
| Great Britain | Jun 27 | Michael Hutchinson | Wouter Syybrandy | Matthew Brottrill |
| Ireland | Jun 27 | Paul Healion | Neil Delahaye | John Heverin |
| Italy | Jun 22 | Marco Pinotti | Luca Celli | Maurizio Biondo |
| Luxembourg | Jun 26 | Kim Kirchen | Christian Poos | Benoît Joachim |
| Netherlands | Aug 31 | Lars Boom | Joost Posthuma | Koen de Kort |
| New Zealand | Jan 11 | Logan Hutchings | Paul Odlin | Gordon McCauley |
| Norway | Jun 27 | Edvald Boasson Hagen | Geir Lien | Knut Anders Fostervold |
| Portugal | Jun 28 | Sérgio Paulinho | Tiago Machado | Helder Oliveira |
| Russia | Jun 27 | Vladimir Gusev | Timofey Kritskiy | Vladimir Karpets |
| Spain | Jun 28 | Luis León Sánchez | Rubén Plaza | Iván Gutiérrez |
| Sweden | Jun 25 | Fredrik Ericsson | Gustav Larsson | Thomas Lövkvist |
| Switzerland | Jun 29 | Fabian Cancellara | Rubens Bertogliati | Andreas Dietziker |
| Ukraine | Jun 26 | Andrey Grivko | Sergey Matveev | Denis Kostiuk |
| USA | Sep 1 | David Zabriskie | Tom Zirbel | Christian Vande Velde |
