Alessandro Ballan celebrates his solo win at home (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
With the podiums stashed away and the riders enjoying their holidays, as the season finally comes to a close, Cyclingnews' Greg Johnson and Les Clarke look back on season 2008 with fond memories and light hearts. Here's their top 10 biggest moments from the year that was 2008.
Italy's record at the World Championships has hardly been disappointing of late, but it wanted redemption after losing on home soil in Verona four years ago. So to ensure another Spaniard, or anyone else for that matter, didn't shame them when the World Championships returned to Italy - this time in Varese - this year, they decided to dominate the race.
Enter Alessandro Ballan, Damiano Cunego and Davide Rebellin. Ballan left nothing to chance after falling short in the sprint to Paris-Roubaix glory earlier in the year, gapping his rivals to take a comfortable three-second advantage. Cunego's second place only added to the euphoria amongst the home crowd, while Rebellin narrowly missed out on third place to take fourth. Not bad for a 37-year-old.
