I was puzzled why the other competitors didn't congratulate her as they finished.
I was puzzled why the other competitors didn't congratulate her as they finished.
The was simultaneously the best and worst race I’ve ever seen!
Loved it.
Will take something crazy over the next few weeks for this not to be the most memorable thing to come from the games.
pepa pig wrote:
The was simultaneously the best and worst race I’ve ever seen!
Loved it.
Will take something crazy over the next few weeks for this not to be the most memorable thing to come from the games.
Along with the Algerian swimmer destroying his pr we will see more of this as the Games continue. They are, after all, a circus as much as anything. A Roman one, without the deaths.
Armstronglivs wrote:
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.
She quit pro cycling as she didn't think it was "healthy" (what do you think she meant?).
Many knowledgeable people in cycling thought she would become a superstar but she didn't want to be part of the pro cycling world.
This was a bit of a Steven Bradbury type victory.
She won because the others (basically the Dutch) facked up. They were happy to do minimal work and just reel in the "no names" late in the race. They didn't realise that one of those "no names" was a super talent and had ridden away from the rest of the break away.
Agree. Kiesenhofer was completely spent at the finish line, clearly giving absolutely everything she had. Van Vleuten, in comparison, looked fresh as a daisy. And Kiesenhofer looks much more like a normal person than other competitors in the race yesterday. She's obviously amazingly fit, but doesn't look like a superwoman.
Obviously we can't ever really know, but if I had to put money on one cyclist being clean, it's Kiesenhofer.
I could see this turning into a movie.
The background story is great.
And what a conclusion.
It’s a female Rocky story without the fiction.
Though, you could add a little speculative fiction and say she left the pro team because they wanted her to drug.
It really is! I'm amazed she's not getting more coverage here in the US. Every person I talk to, I just find myself babbling in excitement about her win, and most of them have heard nothing about it.
Luckily, I speak a bit of German and can understand it fairly well, so I look forward to watching the Austrian biopic!
My thoughts (as a former racer): This was a small field. It's not as if there were 200 riders and the dutch team was mid-pack when the break went off. They should've known how many went up the road and communicated within the team what they knew or talked with other teams, at a minimum, if the team car didn't have the information. This is what can happen with small team sizes and a team is stacked with allstars. I would love to see the same type of setup in a grand tour (small teams/no radios, or radios only to relay potential hazards on the road).
She had a nasty, nasty crash in Rio 2016. Google it.
BekeleKip wrote:
She had a nasty, nasty crash in Rio 2016. Google it.
Silver medallist Annemiek van Vleuten had the nasty crash in Rio. Anna Kiesenhofer, the subject of this thread, wasn't even at Rio.
Agree -- it was very strange to see such a small field. It's a fantastic story, but also undeniable that Kiesenhofer's win resulted in part due to tactical mistakes by the Dutch. This doesn't take anything away from Kiesenhofer's accomplishment, of course -- tactics are part of the race, and the other breakaway riders clearly didn't have the power to stay with her over the last 40 km.
Armstronglivs wrote:
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.
I take your general point, and I have no reason to think AK is cleaner than any other cyclist, but I don't think it's quite right to say she "easily beat" the peloton. She won in part because the peloton never came after her. There's a lot of speculation about why this happened -- bad comms, bad math, small peloton, smal teams, four Dutch riders going for three medals, arrogance and so on -- but the fact remains that she was never under serious threat from the peloton.
FWIW, if you want evidence she's doping, it seems her 4 minute win in a hard mountain stage on the Ardeche in 2016 might be a better place to start. Her performance there was impressive enough to get her a pro contract.
Clickbait wrote:
Agree -- it was very strange to see such a small field. It's a fantastic story, but also undeniable that Kiesenhofer's win resulted in part due to tactical mistakes by the Dutch. This doesn't take anything away from Kiesenhofer's accomplishment, of course -- tactics are part of the race, and the other breakaway riders clearly didn't have the power to stay with her over the last 40 km.
These all feel the peleton is suffers from the prisioners dilemma. It would have been easy for a half dozen riders in the peleton to work together to keep the lead to a reasonable amount but if any of thr favorites didnt help, they woyld gain an advantage. So nobody did the work. You would think there would be teams with 1 medal contender whobwould sacrifice the other riders to keep it close but most of the time they sit around and for the favorite.
it also isnt clear to me if not knowing Kiesenhofer was out there mattered much. They left it too late.
hobbyjogger1 wrote:
I was puzzled why the other competitors didn't congratulate her as they finished.
I noticed that as well. I think other riders also thought the Dutch rider had won.
I wonder about the motorcycle boards that were supposed to show how far the peloton was behind the lead rider. Kiesenhofer was solo off the front for, what?... 60k or so? How did Kiesenhofer's lead not get communicated to the peloton every few minutes by the motorcycle board?
I think this was another screwup by the Japanese officials, like starting the triathlon with a boat blocking half the pier and not marking as a road hazard that grove in the road that caused a crash in the men's road race AND then again in the women's road race. In the men's mountain bike, MVDP tweeted that a board had been removed prior to the race on the jump where he crashed.
Too much sloppy officiating is playing a role in these Olympics.
Anyway... congratulations to Kiesenhofer. She rode hard and won.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktKTiEALGx4Tastes Like Chicken wrote:
Silver medallist Annemiek van Vleuten had the nasty crash in Rio.
'mopac wrote:
Armstronglivs wrote:
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.
She quit pro cycling as she didn't think it was "healthy" (what do you think she meant?).
Many knowledgeable people in cycling thought she would become a superstar but she didn't want to be part of the pro cycling world.
This was a bit of a Steven Bradbury type victory.
She won because the others (basically the Dutch) facked up. They were happy to do minimal work and just reel in the "no names" late in the race. They didn't realise that one of those "no names" was a super talent and had ridden away from the rest of the break away.
If Olympic cyclists don't dope then no amateurs in any sport dope. We know that isn't the case. Anyone who wants to win badly enough - in any sport - will dope. I doubt that it is only the professional cyclists in the Tour de France who are doing it.