"It feels incredible. Even when I crossed the finish line, I thought to myself: Is it really over? Do I still have to go on?" Kiesenhofer described her emotional state and added: "I was glad that I wasn't too nervous, I just went for it."
The 30-year-old's triumph came as such a surprise that not even second-placed Annemiek van Vleuten had expected her. The Dutchwoman crossed the finish line jubilant, believing she had won. "I didn't know that. I was wrong," said the 38-year-old disappointedly after being informed of her silver.
Started as a clear outsider
Kiesenhofer is now Austria's first female Olympic cycling champion since 1896, when Adolf Schmal won the 12-hour race on the track in Athens. In her home country, emotions ran high after the ride into the history books. "Anna Kiesenhofer, what an achievement! Congratulations on winning gold in the women's cycling road race. First gold medal at the Olympic Games. Great!", tweeted Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen.
Before her gold coup, Kiesenhofer had only celebrated five victories, four of them at national championships. She has been without a team since 2018. It was well known that she is a good time trialist. However, no-one had expected her to pull off this ride in the heat on Mount Fuji.
Kiesenhofer had actually only started to lose. The superiority of the Dutch, who had dominated the 2012 and 2016 Olympics and the last four World Championship races, seemed too great. So the mathematician took heart and tried to escape. Only when Kiesenhofer and two fellow escapees had a lead of over ten minutes did the favourites react - too late.
"That was a surprise winner, of course. You always have to expect someone to come through. That's what happened today," said Lisa Brennauer. The German champion showed a lack of understanding that only her team and the Netherlands had taken care of the pursuit.
Kiesenhofer rode on undeterred, outpacing her escape companions and finishing solo on the high-speed race course on Japan's most famous mountain. Until now, her academic achievements - a masters degree in mathematics from Cambridge University and a doctorate from the University of Barcelona - have been the flagship of her CV. That is likely to have changed now that she is an Olympic champion.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:210725-99-518983/5
