To be a complete outsider, no contract, to break away from the off, for the Dutch to be there in numbers and such hot favourites, so hot and humid - and yet for the Austrian woman to take it - just brilliant.
It was brilliant. But how mad that the silver medal winner van Vleuten and others thought they had caught all the breakaway and van Vleuten initially thought she had won gold ( which, while she is a big name, would have been another great story after her horror crash when in the lead in Rio ).
It is much more difficult to keep on top of everything in the Olympics without direct radio communication and with much smaller teams ( and indeed many individuals ) but something went very awry in the communications between the motor bikes and the peleton.
Absolutely! Chris Boardman (it is chris, yes, who was in the studio?) got everything wrong this morning - saying the 2nd and 3rd could never be caught, saying of course Annemieke didn't think she had won...
Hilarious.
And brilliant for the Austrian, without a team, a contract, anything...
And Dutch sour grapes for saying everyone should have headphones and control cars because otherwise it's 'confusing' - well, not for the Austrian, it wasn't....
Absolutely! Chris Boardman (it is chris, yes, who was in the studio?) got everything wrong this morning - saying the 2nd and 3rd could never be caught, saying of course Annemieke didn't think she had won... Hilarious. And brilliant for the Austrian, without a team, a contract, anything... And Dutch sour grapes for saying everyone should have headphones and control cars because otherwise it's 'confusing' - well, not for the Austrian, it wasn't....
Oh yes, that is indeed hilarious from Boardman. I hadn't been watching the BBC TV coverage but have now watched the closing stages and immediate aftermath back.
The sharp about face from going on about how very unlikely it was that the 2nd and 3rd would be caught to when they were relatively comfortably caught, then saying of course that's what he had been fearing was superb.
But still beaten by his response abour 10 minutes after the finish to van Veulen being absolutely ecstatic on the line and still really happy as she continued to ride in to meet a Dutch coach, then suddenly seen to be tearful and in a sad looking way, before later with her colleagues standing around looking a bit non plusses. Also as pointed out to him, Deignan was going on about van Veulen being the deserved winner. So might she think she had won? No more clues, Chris. Oh dear
Wow triathlon! Well done Alex Yee to get silver, Jonny Brownlee 5th. The Norwegian was a monster. I cant run that fast after 100 seconds let alone 100 minutes !!
Wow triathlon! Well done Alex Yee to get silver, Jonny Brownlee 5th. The Norwegian was a monster. I cant run that fast after 100 seconds let alone 100 minutes !!
The start of the swim was epic. I hadn't realised that Chris Boardman was the starter.
Wow triathlon! Well done Alex Yee to get silver, Jonny Brownlee 5th. The Norwegian was a monster. I cant run that fast after 100 seconds let alone 100 minutes !!
The start of the swim was epic. I hadn't realised that Chris Boardman was the starter.
13 medals now, 4 Gold, 5 Silver, 4 Bronze, an unprecedented GB total by this stage in modern times, even with all the recent overall success. Certainly very much up and running.
While we may not in coming days quite repeat say the rowing and cycling hauls of recent times, it is already great to see fresh contributions from other areas and some great stories.
Not quite the same interaction as usual but may success again help breed success as we continue.