Anna Kiesenhofer, a university lecturer in mathematics, has taken an unlikely victory in the women's road race at the Olympic Games. The Austrian started the early five-rider breakaway before going solo for the final 40km to win the title by over one minute.
Back in the bunch, the Dutch riders - who form the most dominant national team in the world by far - seemed indifferent about chasing the breakaway, which gained over 10 minutes.
And when the Dutch finally started to chase and attack, some of the team didn't realise Kiesenhofer was still clear on her own - having attacked on Kagosaka Pass. However, it has since emerged that some of the Dutch riders, including Marianne Vos, knew Kiesenhofer was still clear.
Annemiek van Vleuten of the Netherlands attacked solo in the finale and when she reached the finish line she celebrated what she thought was victory in the race; with both arms thrown into the air.
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But when she came over the line a rather more subdued mood took over - as you can see in the video below - when Van Vleuten realised she had just won the silver and not gold. She was 1:15 down on the winner, with Elisa Longo Borghini (Italy) taking bronze at 1:29.
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Locura lo de Van Vleuten
Se cree que ha ganado al llegar y nadie le dice que es segunda
Se abraza con su físio, que tampoco le dice nada
Luego se da cuenta que no es medalla de oro @BrujulaDeporte pic.twitter.com/5Tjrth7uh8— Alberto Pereiro (@AlbertoPereiro) July 25, 2021
The new champion, Kiesenhofer, is a university lecturer with a major academic background in science and maths. She has only ever had a pro contract for one season - with Lotto Soudal back in 2017.
She secured that one-year contract after a brilliant solo stage win Mont Ventoux on stage 3 of the Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche. However, in 2017 when riding as a pro she had a series of DNFs in races and rode her last UCI-ranked race in April of that year.
And when she couldn't get another pro contract for 2018 she quit cycling and spent time away from the sport. Kiesenhofer only began to race again in 2019 - doing so as an amateur rider.
She won both the road race and TT national title in Austria that year and has won the TT title both years since then and represented Austria at the World Road Championships.
However, she came to the Olympics as an amateur and had no team mates in the race. That did not stop her attacking from the gun and forming the day’s main breakaway. She also took the initiative with 40km to go – as you can see in the highlights video below – and went on to ride solo to road race Olympic gold.
She has a PhD in mathematics – and has a glittering academic career including a stint at Cambridge University. The 30-year-old currently teaches and studies at the University of Lausanne but is now very likely indeed to get a pro contract for next season.
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