Anna Kiesenhofer: Mathematician, amateur cyclist, Olympic champion
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Re: Anna Kiesenhofer: Mathematician, amateur cyclist, Olympic champion
#2I’m curious how much the extra year has helped some athletes who wouldn’t have won or might not have won until 2024. Or given a few the extra time to show they can compete.
For ex: an 18yr old Tunisian was a big upset for gold at 400m swimming.
https://ftw.usatoday.com/lists/olympics-swimming-ahmed-hafna...
Not to downplay any of their abilities or achievements.
Re: Anna Kiesenhofer: Mathematician, amateur cyclist, Olympic champion
#3"After Shapira and Plichta were caught by the remainder of the peloton the rest of the riders seemed to believe that they were racing amongst themselves for Gold, unaware that Kiesenhofer was still in front."
Not saying she shouldn't had won, but when nobody is pursuing you, it is much easier to win.
We have seen in the men race that even when people know there is one person in front, 80% of the riders prefer not to force to prevent the strongest guy of the group to win the sprint. (Who won the sprint anyway)
Re: Anna Kiesenhofer: Mathematician, amateur cyclist, Olympic champion
#4This is incredible, but some of the headlines of "amateur wins gold versus pros" are a little misleading.
She was with a pro-team, she is the current Austrian time-trial champion and had devoted herself to making this happen over the pandemic. Meanwhile the Dutch World Champion didn't know she was ahead, so didn't chase her.
I love the story, but it isn't a simple amateur beating out all the pros story.
Re: Anna Kiesenhofer: Mathematician, amateur cyclist, Olympic champion
#5Seems she's a PhD who studies Partial Differential Equations. Her post-doc research institution is understandably proud:
https://actu.epfl.ch/news/epfl-scientist-wins-cycling-gold-m...
Re: Anna Kiesenhofer: Mathematician, amateur cyclist, Olympic champion
#6https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_at_the_2020_Summer_Oly...
With more than a minute difference to the rest? She wasn't even in the pack, incredible victory.
Re: Anna Kiesenhofer: Mathematician, amateur cyclist, Olympic champion
#7There are no radios allowed at the Olympics, like there are at professional races (ie Tour, Vuelta, Giro etc.)
That simple. The last refresh point was ~50kms before the final, if the person there didn't give an info to the riders then they just didn't know how far she was ahead hence the confusion of van Vleuten at the finish
Re: Anna Kiesenhofer: Mathematician, amateur cyclist, Olympic champion
#8"After Shapira and Plichta were caught by the remainder of the peloton the rest of the riders seemed to believe that they were racing amongst themselves for Gold, unaware that Kiesenhofer was still in front." Not saying she shouldn't had won, but when nobody is pursuing you, it is much easier to win. We have seen in the men race that even when people know there is one person in front, 80% of the riders prefer not to…
The road race at the Olympics is somewhat of an outlier in cycling. It uses national teams as opposed to commerical teams, so riders ride with unfamilar teammates, and in this case the biggest favorites were actually teammates. It also bans radios, so there's no direct communication between the coaches and the riders possible.
Re: Anna Kiesenhofer: Mathematician, amateur cyclist, Olympic champion
#9https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cycling_at_the_2020_Summer_Oly... With more than a minute difference to the rest? She wasn't even in the pack, incredible victory.
In fact initially Van Vleuten thought she had won when she finished and didn't knew that Kiesenhofer had finished ahead of her.
Re: Anna Kiesenhofer: Mathematician, amateur cyclist, Olympic champion
#10There are no radios allowed at the Olympics, like there are at professional races (ie Tour, Vuelta, Giro etc.) That simple. The last refresh point was ~50kms before the final, if the person there didn't give an info to the riders then they just didn't know how far she was ahead hence the confusion of van Vleuten at the finish
No radios really exposed the poor racecraft of the Dutch riders. Seen some commentators criticising the no radios in OL (and WM) races, but I personally I think it is nice that it emphasize the skill of the rider and minimise the impact of SD's. Riders in the van Vleuten group, such as Uttrup, did know that there was a rider up the road. So it does seem that the mishap is truly on the Ducth riders.