Anna Kiesenhofer almost lacked the strength to cheer after her historic journey to gold.

It was only with great effort that the blatant outsider took her arms off the handlebars, shook her head in disbelief and finally dropped onto the home straight of the Fuji International Speedway as an Olympic champion.

“It feels amazing.

Even when I crossed the finish line, I thought to myself: is it really over?

Do I have to go on? ", Kiesenhofer described her emotional state and added:" I was glad that I wasn't too nervous, I just drove off. "

The triumph of the 30-year-old came so surprising that not even the second-placed Annemiek van Vleuten had it on the bill.

The Dutch rider crossed the finish line cheering, believing she had won.

"I did not know that.

I was wrong, ”said the 38-year-old disappointed after being informed about silver.

At the finish she came to the supervisor Ruud Zijlmans, beaming with joy, who explained the matter and to whom she later, as seen on TV, said: “Oh, Ruud, I was completely wrong.

I didn't notice it at all. "

Austria waited since 1896

It's her next bitter Olympic drama: in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, she was on the gold course and fell badly shortly before the finish line. "I thought she was dead," said Olympic champion Anna van der Breggen, who drove by and won gold. Van Vleuten suffered chipped bones in the lumbar spine and a severe concussion. Also on Sunday she was unlucky when she crashed in the race over Emma Norsgaard Jörgensen, who was lying on the ground and had to give up, but was able to continue. A few kilometers before the finish, van Vleuten broke out of their group, drove over the finish line, cheered and then learned the bitter truth.

But she wasn't the only one who hadn't noticed Kiesenhofer's escape. After a short time on the 137-kilometer route, she and two other drivers had pulled away and gained a lead of more than ten minutes. She later left the companions behind. They were caught by the peloton, but the fact that there was another lonely runaway escaped the pursuers.

Van Vleuten's compatriot Anna van der Breggen said. “I didn't know that there was another female driver in front. We caught up with the other women and thought we'd be racing for the win, but in the end it wasn't. That's a shame. ”At the Olympics, unlike the Tour de France, for example, no radio may be used. Only calls and signs at the edge of the route are allowed. Van Vleuten did not want to talk about her mishap and her feelings after the gold medal, which was believed to be safe. On the podium, at least, she smiled again with silver around her neck.

Kiesenhofer is now Austria's first female cycling Olympic champion since 1896. At that time, Adolf Schmal won the 12-hour race on the track in Athens. In her homeland, emotions bubbled up after the trip into the history books. “Anna Kiesenhofer, what an achievement! I warmly congratulate you on winning gold in the women's bike road race. The first gold medal in the Olympics. Great! ”Tweeted Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen.

Before her gold coup, Kiesenhofer had only celebrated five wins, four of them at national championships. She has been without a team since 2018. It was known that she is a good time trial woman. But no one had given her credit for this ride in the heat on Mount Fuji. Kiesenhofer actually only started to lose. The superiority of the Dutch women, who dominated the Olympics in 2012 and 2016 and also the last four World Cup races, seemed too great. So the mathematician took heart and sought her salvation in flight. Only when Kiesenhofer and two other outliers were more than ten minutes ahead did the favorites react - too late.

“That was of course a surprise winner. You always have to expect someone to get through. That happened today, ”said Lisa Brennauer. The German champion showed incomprehension that only her team and the Netherlands had taken care of the pursuit. Kiesenhofer drove on undeterred, hung up on her escape companions and came as a soloist on the high-speed racetrack on Japan's most famous mountain. So far, her academic achievements - a Masters in Mathematics from Cambridge University and a PhD from the University of Barcelona - have been the figureheads on her résumé. That should now have changed as an Olympic champion.