2020 / 2021 Olympic Cycling Racing Discussion

This has to be the TrainerRoad forums first Olympic medalist right??? (i.e earned during the forums existence)

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The tactics of both races were really interesting. In the womens’, a really strong team + strong members of other, weaker teams. In the mens’, a couple of really strong teams, a great sprinter who can climb [WvA} and several other strong climbers and puncheurs.

Evidently, being the strongest team or being the one strong sprinter who can get to the end, when the number of players is limited to 5 or 4 and there is a breakaway, is a major tactical problem that the Dutch women and the Belgian, Slovenian, and other teams have failed to solve.

Are alliances to form an elite breakaway the way to go?

Attack from mile zero! So awesome…

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Love it when the break makes it.

Huge Congrats to Anna K.

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How often does a forum member win an Olympic gold medal? WOW. @Anna_K this is INSANE!!! Congratulations.

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Eagerly awaiting the trainer road podcast with Anna! Surely as a loyal forum member she’s up for the interview!

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My smile was almost as big as @Anna_K ’s! Amazing!!

At the same time, crying for AvV. What an emotional race.

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I thought the same.

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Yes! @Jonathan, can you make it happen?

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@Anna_K Lässig…! Gratulation!

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:partying_face:

Wall Street Journal Article. (might be behind a pay wall). WSJ does a pretty good job covering cycling.

“A former pro with Lotto-Soudal women’s team, Kiesenhofer now teaches and does postdoctoral research at a polytechnic institute in Lausanne, Switzerland. She is self-coached. Though she trained extensively to prepare for the Games, she did not come to Tokyo with medal expectations. She raced with no teammates”.

This is simply a fantastic story and achievement.

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Some post-race reaction from Anna:

Anna Kiesenhofer delivers a shock Olympic Gold in the Women’s Road Race | Tokyo 2020 Olympics - YouTube

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Does anyone have any coverage of the post race stropiness? I’ve seen it mentioned on IG but I had to switch off before I found out if they had actually not known.

Terrific ride from Anna K!

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The thing I noticed was that only Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig came over to congratulate Anna.

And she certainly didn’t hold back about the race tactics. :slight_smile:
Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig calls passive women’s race 'absurd’ at Tokyo Olympics | Cyclingnews

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I saw the Dutch riders were complaining about split communications, but like, there were 4 of them, the car they kept running back to should have told them, etc.

To complain about that, and a woman on a team of one, who has none of that to speak of, wins, seems like a bunch of sour grapes.

They should have sent one of them up the road instead of being out on a Sunday ride. Even at the expense of that rider, at least they would have had a handle on it, and have 3 other riders to work as a team.

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Hot take:

The Dutch riders wouldn’t have caught Anna anyway and it’s a gift they get to blame their loss on “communication” rather than simply not being good enough today.

I doubt that Van Vleuten would have pulled more than a minute in 4.5km when she could barely stay away from the peloton.

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Having missed the first break, should have sent a rider up on that third break that stayed in no mans land for a while. They looked strong enough that three of them could have probably reeled in the break (hypothetical, but better than what they did).

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Only just saw AVV interview, she was clearly pissed off that she failed, and thinks it’s due to lack of comms, and she failed to congratulate the winner. Hardly the worst sore loser I’ve ever seen.

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I do agree with the women riders who complained the course was dumbed down for them. That was insulting and I don’t really understand it.

Sure, it would have been a different race, but the course should be equal.

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