2012 UCI Road World Championships – Women's road race
The Women's road race of the 2012 UCI Road World Championships cycling event took place on 22 September in the province of Limburg, Netherlands.
Dutchwoman Marianne Vos won her second world title after finishing second 5 times since 2007. She struggled to escape for much of the 129-kilometre eight-lap race, but finally got clear on the intimidating Cauberg Hill to sprint to victory on the last two ascents. With a finishing time of three hours 14 minutes and 29 seconds, Vos beat Rachel Neylan of Australia by 10 seconds, with Italy's Elisa Longo Borghini third. Dutch time trialist Ellen van Dijk was a notable casualty in a crash involving 50 riders on the second lap.
Route
The race covered 129 km and contained eight laps on a 16.5 km circuit. The circuit included the Bemelerberg, 900 m long and maximal 7% and the Cauberg hill in Valkenburg – where the Amstel Gold Race has finished since 2003, and hosted the finish of of the 2006 Tour de France – a long climb with a maximum gradient of 12%. The finish was beyond the summit of the Cauberg hill.Final classification
Of the race's 132 entrants, 80 riders completed the full distance of.| Rank | Rider | Country | Time |
| Marianne Vos | |||
| Rachel Neylan | + 10" | ||
| Elisa Longo Borghini | + 18" | ||
| 4 | Amber Neben | + 33" | |
| 5 | Anna van der Breggen | + 55" | |
| 6 | Rossella Ratto | + 3' 40" | |
| 7 | Linda Villumsen | + 4' 37" | |
| 8 | Judith Arndt | + 4' 37" | |
| 9 | Emma Johansson | + 4' 37" | |
| 10 | Paulina Brzeźna | + 4' 37" | |
| 11 | Annemiek van Vleuten | + 4' 37" | |
| 12 | Ashleigh Moolman | + 4' 37" | |
| 13 | Joëlle Numainville | + 4' 37" | |
| 14 | Alena Amialiusik | + 4' 37" | |
| 15 | Emma Pooley | + 4' 37" | |
| 16 | Evelyn Stevens | + 4' 37" | |
| 17 | Jessie Daams | + 4' 37" | |
| 18 | Liesbet De Vocht | + 4' 37" | |
| 19 | Hanka Kupfernagel | + 4' 49" | |
| 20 | Giorgia Bronzini | + 4' 49" | |
| 21 | Leah Kirchmann | + 4' 49" | |
| 22 | Inga Čilvinaitė | + 4' 49" | |
| 23 | Cecilie Gotaas Johnsen | + 4' 49" | |
| 24 | Oxana Kozonchuk | + 4' 49" | |
| 25 | Yevheniya Vysotska | + 4' 49" | |
| 26 | Ivanna Borovychenko | + 4' 49" | |
| 27 | Larisa Pankova | + 4' 49" | |
| 28 | Anna Sanchis Chafer | + 4' 49" | |
| 29 | Carmen Small | + 4' 49" | |
| 30 | Karol-Ann Canuel | + 4' 49" | |
| 31 | Tiffany Cromwell | + 4' 52" | |
| 32 | Tatiana Antoshina | + 4' 54" | |
| 33 | Megan Guarnier | + 4' 54" | |
| 34 | Charlotte Becker | + 4' 54" | |
| 35 | Eneritz Iturriagaechevarria Mazaga | + 4' 58" | |
| 36 | Clemilda Fernandes Silva | + 4' 58" | |
| 37 | Edwige Pitel | + 4' 58" | |
| 38 | Elena Cecchini | + 4' 58" | |
| 39 | Sharon Laws | + 4' 58" | |
| 40 | Sofie De Vuyst | + 4' 58" | |
| 41 | Kelly Druyts | + 4' 58" | |
| 42 | Martina Růžičková | + 4' 58" | |
| 43 | Annelies Van Doorslaer | + 4' 58" | |
| 44 | Kristin McGrath | + 4' 58" | |
| 45 | Claudia Häusler | + 4' 58" | |
| 46 | Aleksandra Burchenkova | + 4' 58" | |
| 47 | Pauline Ferrand-Prévot | + 5' 03" | |
| 48 | Lucinda Brand | + 5' 03" | |
| 49 | Olena Sharha | + 5' 03" | |
| 50 | Cherise Taylor | + 5' 03" | |
| 51 | Lise Nøstvold | + 5' 03" | |
| 52 | Małgorzata Jasińska | + 5' 03" | |
| 53 | Shara Gillow | + 5' 03" | |
| 54 | Ane Santesteban Gonzalez | + 5' 03" | |
| 55 | Amélie Rivat | + 5' 03" | |
| 56 | Kataržina Sosna | + 5' 03" | |
| 57 | Trixi Worrack | + 5' 03" | |
| 58 | Andrea Dvorak | + 5' 03" | |
| 59 | Olivia Dillon | + 5' 39" | |
| 60 | Nicole Cooke | + 5' 39" | |
| 61 | Petra Zrimsek | + 5' 39" | |
| 62 | Jennifer Hohl | + 5' 39" | |
| 63 | Edita Janeliūnaitė | + 5' 39" | |
| 64 | Francesca Cauz | + 5' 39" | |
| 65 | Verónica Leal Balderas | + 5' 39" | |
| 66 | Nikki Harris | + 5' 39" |
| Rank | Rider | Country | Time |
| 67 | Veronique Labonte | + 5' 39" | |
| 68 | Amanda Spratt | + 5' 39" | |
| 69 | Adrie Visser | + 5' 41" | |
| 70 | Ina-Yoko Teutenberg | + 5' 41" | |
| 71 | Jessie MacLean | + 6' 04" | |
| 72 | Gracie Elvin | + 6' 04" | |
| 73 | Marta Tagliaferro | + 6' 04" | |
| 74 | Noemi Cantele | + 6' 04" | |
| 75 | Hanna Nilsson | + 6' 04" | |
| 76 | Evelyn Arys | + 6' 04" | |
| 77 | Kirsten Wild | + 6' 04" | |
| 78 | Sandrine Bideau | + 6' 22" | |
| 79 | Tatiana Guderzo | + 7' 1" | |
| 80 | Lilibeth Chacón García | + 8' 24" | |
| Lex Albrecht | OTL | ||
| Miriam Bjørnsrud | OTL | ||
| Romy Kasper | DNF | ||
| Loren Rowney | DNF | ||
| Siobhan Horgan | DNF | ||
| Aleksandra Sošenko | DNF | ||
| Sérika Guluma Ortiz | DNF | ||
| Doris Schweizer | DNF | ||
| Daniela Pintarelli | DNF | ||
| Lise Olivier | DNF | ||
| Alexandra Chekina | DNF | ||
| Martina Ritter | DNF | ||
| Mayuko Hagiwara | DNF | ||
| Maria Briceno | DNF | ||
| Rimma Luchshenko | DNF | ||
| Audrey Cordon | DNF | ||
| Sara Mustonen | DNF | ||
| Jessica Kihlbom | DNF | ||
| Patricia Schwager | DNF | ||
| Sophie Creux | DNF | ||
| Joanna van de Winkel | DNF | ||
| Katie Colclough | DNF | ||
| Shelley Olds | DNF | ||
| Emilia Fahlin | DNF | ||
| Ellen van Dijk | DNF | ||
| Loes Gunnewijk | DNF | ||
| Emily Collins | DNF | ||
| Eugenia Bujak | DNF | ||
| Olena Pavlukhina | DNF | ||
| Anna Nahirna | DNF | ||
| Semra Yetiş | DNF | ||
| Rotem Gafinovitz | DNF | ||
| Mia Radotić | DNF | ||
| Mayra Del Rocio Rocha | DNF | ||
| Kathryn Bertine | DNF | ||
| Kaat Hannes | DNF | ||
| Robyn de Groot | DNF | ||
| An-Li Pretorius | DNF | ||
| Sari Saarelainen | DNF | ||
| Polona Batagelj | DNF | ||
| Roberta Monaldini | DNF | ||
| Isabelle Söderberg | DNF | ||
| Lenore Pipes | DNF | ||
| Yuliya Martisova | DNF | ||
| Andrea Graus | DNF | ||
| Yennifer Cesar | DNF | ||
| Emma Crum | DNF | ||
| Kate Chilcott | DNF | ||
| Martina Sáblíková | DNF | ||
| Agnė Šilinytė | DNF | ||
| Urša Pintar | DNF | ||
| Pavlína Šulcová | DNF |