Austrian Anna Kiesenhofer caused one of the biggest shocks in Olympic road racing history with an audacious solo victory in the women’s race as a quartet of Dutch champions apparently paid for a bizarre communications meltdown on Sunday. Kiesenhofer was straining every sinew and often glancing over her shoulder expecting to an orange armada closing in. “I thought I was one,” Van Vleuten was heard saying to her team masseur Ruud Ziljmans on Dutch TV. She is the first Austrian cyclist to claim Olympic gold since Adolf Schmal won the 12-hour track race at the 1896 Athens Games. Silver was some consolation for Van Vleuten who crashed spectacularly in Rio five years ago with a gold in sight.

Source: The Star July 25, 2021 09:33 UTC