Great story.
But calling her an amateur cyclist in the subject line makes it sound like she never made it to the pro ranks.
Then you write she quit being a pro a few years ago.
Still it’s something to break away and hang on like that.
Great story.
But calling her an amateur cyclist in the subject line makes it sound like she never made it to the pro ranks.
Then you write she quit being a pro a few years ago.
Still it’s something to break away and hang on like that.
The former. Communications have made this sport far worse. Finally a moment of pure racing involved body, heart, and MIND.
I watched the last 5mi thinking do they have enough time to catch her? She was up over a kilometer but I have no concept of how fast a peloton can close in. When the Dutch rider took off you could see the gap start to close but it was way too late.
Maybe a comms snafu is a good cover for "we just figured these no name riders would come back to us?"
Alan
This just would not have happened had the mathematician been back in the chase pack.
Star wrote:
Great story.
But calling her an amateur cyclist in the subject line makes it sound like she never made it to the pro ranks.
As she herself said:
"On paper, I’m an amateur, but cycling takes up a lot of space in my life. I don’t earn money… I mean not a lot, my income is like a normal job, but in my head cycling takes up a huge space. For the last one-and-a-half years, I was completely focused on today,"
The rest of the interview makes it sound as if she definitely marches to her own drummer. It's hard to think of a T&F equivalent. Jennings??? Or maybe some field athlete???
https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/anna-kiesenhofer-the-anti-authoritarian-mastermind-of-her-own-olympic-glory/I started to realise that all those people who say they know, they actually don’t know. Many of them don’t know, and especially those who say that they know, don’t know, because those who do know say that they don’t know.
--- Anna Kiesenhofer
Monkeys Skyping wrote:
I started to realise that all those people who say they know, they actually don’t know. Many of them don’t know, and especially those who say that they know, don’t know, because those who do know say that they don’t know.
--- Anna Kiesenhofer
Great quote. Everything about her story is fascinating. She's obviously quite the nerd and optimizes her nutrition and training glancing at her Twitter. If you look at the beginning of the race, she started out behind the pack because she "doesn't enjoy riding in the peloton". That's why she prefers the time trial, but Austria didn't qualify to send any athlete for the time trial. When crossing the finish line she was barely able to lift her arms, left it all out there.
How much $ does a typical female pro cyclist make? Not talking about the top stars, but someone who's riding the big tours but middle of the pack. Probably not much, and that's why she chose to be, technically speaking, an amateur cyclist. Good for her.
As pointed out by many, this was a confluence of events that led to this truly amazing victory.
Heat- she trained specifically for this weather.
Team- the Dutch employed poor tactics and for whatever reason were poorly organized. Other teams attacked but their efforts were thwarted each time.
Her strengths- when she attacked the final 2 riders with 40k to go she played into her strength which was time trialing.
I watched this race in awe of all that happened. This made the Olympics for me. I hope it can be topped.
I would have thought by now that we would have learned that a "clean cyclist" is an oxymoron. Especially one that easily beats the dopers in the peloton.
above_average_joe wrote:
How much $ does a typical female pro cyclist make? Not talking about the top stars, but someone who's riding the big tours but middle of the pack. Probably not much, and that's why she chose to be, technically speaking, an amateur cyclist. Good for her.
As a day job, she's a post-doc which isn't exactly a path to riches either. Maybe better in Switzerland than in the US.
https://actu.epfl.ch/news/epfl-scientist-wins-cycling-gold-medal-in-tokyo--2/Monkeys Skyping wrote:
above_average_joe wrote:
How much $ does a typical female pro cyclist make? Not talking about the top stars, but someone who's riding the big tours but middle of the pack. Probably not much, and that's why she chose to be, technically speaking, an amateur cyclist. Good for her.
As a day job, she's a post-doc which isn't exactly a path to riches either. Maybe better in Switzerland than in the US.
https://actu.epfl.ch/news/epfl-scientist-wins-cycling-gold-medal-in-tokyo--2/
Correct, in terms of current earnings, but I guess the future earnings trajectory is better. Either become a professor, which is a very difficult feat, or as a math post-doc you can always join the ranks of industry and become a soulless corporate mercenary.
Europe pays less than US in academia, but Switzerland is generally the exception to that rule.
During the run-in , AK absolutely riding her guts out, rocking the bike from side to side, gasping for air and gritting her teeth, struggling to keep the momentum going.
Austrian announcer: she’s smiling, she’s grinning!!
*facepalm*
If you do not have enough situational awareness to know your position and where your competitors are, then you do not deserve to win. Situational awareness is a huge part of any sport.
zcvxzxcv wrote:
This just would not have happened had the mathematician been back in the chase pack.
Someone who could count to 3 was clearly needed
Tastes Like Chicken wrote:
Star wrote:
Great story.
But calling her an amateur cyclist in the subject line makes it sound like she never made it to the pro ranks.
As she herself said:
"On paper, I’m an amateur, but cycling takes up a lot of space in my life. I don’t earn money… I mean not a lot, my income is like a normal job, but in my head cycling takes up a huge space. For the last one-and-a-half years, I was completely focused on today,"
The rest of the interview makes it sound as if she definitely marches to her own drummer. It's hard to think of a T&F equivalent. Jennings??? Or maybe some field athlete???
I saw a comment on Reddit that she had crushed a good women's peloton on Ventoux years ago and was then on a pro team for only 1 month. During that time they raved about her metrics.
She's clearly an elite talent and trains pro-level volume despite no paycheck. What a win.
https://www.reddit.com/r/peloton/comments/or7ptq/results_thread_womens_olympic_road_race_1special/h6gdo18/Harambe wrote:
zcvxzxcv wrote:
This just would not have happened had the mathematician been back in the chase pack.
Someone who could count to 3 was clearly needed
+1
And now, a musical tribute by Geigenmusi Kiesenhofer:
Even without radios, if the chase riders didn't know they were chasing, there were serious screw ups in communication,planning and execution.
Solo breakaway at 40k should be suicide.
Harambe wrote:
I saw a comment on Reddit that she had crushed a good women's peloton on Ventoux years ago and was then on a pro team for only 1 month. During that time they raved about her metrics.
She's clearly an elite talent and trains pro-level volume despite no paycheck. What a win.
https://www.reddit.com/r/peloton/comments/or7ptq/results_thread_womens_olympic_road_race_1special/h6gdo18/
That reddit comment is worth reading.
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