Two of Australia's champion cyclists Oenone Wood and Natalie Bates raced their final event today at the World Championships in Italy bringing to an end careers both can be proud of.

"I feel pretty good actually," said Wood after stepping off the bike after today's elite women's road race in Varese. "It was probably hard to make the decision initially but I think it's the right decision to make."

Wood began competing as a cyclist at the age of 20 and within two years was stepping onto podiums around the world. In 2004 she won both the time trial and road race at the Australian Open Road Championships and the World Cup Series and was fourth in road race at the Athens Olympic Games. In 2005 she successfully defended her World Cup Series crown and collected a bronze medal in the road race at the World Championships. Wood is only the second Australian woman to have been ranked number one in the world during her career.

Wood began this season by claiming the coveted green and gold bands of Australian Champion in the road race. This week she celebrated her 28th birthday which in cycling terms is young to be retiring.

"I've been seven years overseas with cycling and had a lot of great experiences and now it's time to move on," said the Canberra native. "I think I've done enough to be happy with myself and I could keep going indefinitely but I think eventually that could cause strain because I do miss my family and I'm looking forward to spending time with them."

Wood is a qualified Electrical Engineer and will now focus on her career off the bike and spending time with her husband Joel and family.

"We've got a few things in the woodwork and I'm really keen to start engineering," said Wood. "I think there are a lot of opportunities for me back home but at the moment I just want to relax for a few days and then start thinking about the future.

"I will miss the girls mainly," said Wood of the camaraderie of the professional women's peloton. "Also a lot of people like Wazz (Warren) MacDonald (Australian women's coach) who have put a lot of time into me and I really appreciate that and that will be something I'll miss."

Bates' career saw her claim the time trial crown at the Australian Championships in both 2001 and 2002 but the victory Australians will remember is her gold medal in the road race at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne when she broke away from the field for a solo win in front of a home crowd. The 29 year old also represented Australia at the 2004, 2005 and 2006 road World Championships playing a support role in 2005 to help Wood claim bronze in the road race.

Meantime in today's 138.8km (8 laps of 17.35km race) former triathlon Espoir World Champion, Nikki Egyed put in a solid performance to finish 15th at 1min47sec off the time of the winner Nicole Cooke of Great Britain. Cooke, the Olympic Champion, sprinted home in 3hr42min11sec to claim her second straight rainbow jersey ahead of Dutch rider Marianne Vos and Germany's Judith Arndt.

Egyed went with the early breakaway to ensure Australia was represented.

"Obviously it happened a little bit earlier than everybody expected and after the little crash on the first climb which I was caught behind I just wanted to stay out of trouble for the first lap," said Egyed who was riding towards the front when the attack was launched. "I didn't plan on going until lap five or six but I have been training on this course a lot and when that first attack went we needed to have an Australian in it and I was there so there wasn't too much thought in it beyond that - it was just instinct."

However as the race progressed and the break stayed clear Egyed began weighing her options.

Nikki Egyed (Australia) tries a dig.

Photo: Graham Watson

"I'm a reasonable sprinter but Diana Zilute who is a very good sprinter was in there and I didn't back myself to beat her in the sprint," said Egyed who opted not to ride for second place but to take the initiative and launch a blistering attack three kilometers from the end of the penultimate lap.

"The girls I was with were riding really strongly so I had to attack when they didn't have the choice whether they could go with me or not.

"We all knew Cooke, Vos and Arndt would be the girls to watch and while I was obviously going for the win I also wanted to get over the second last climb before they got me as I figured if I could do that I could sit on for the descent and have a crack on the last climb but unfortunately they caught me with 200ms to go (from the top of the first climb on the last lap) and I just couldn't get on."