Austrian cyclist Anna Kiesenhofer shocked the world when she won gold in the women's cycling road race on Sunday (July 25) at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

No one expected her to win

Fans had expected 2019 world champion Annemiek Van Vleuten of the Netherlands to come first.

In fact, many thought she did, and so did Van Vleuten herself.

She crossed the finish line over a minute after Kiesenhofer and immediately started celebrating, thinking she had won the gold medal.

Britain's Elizabeth Deignan, who finished 11th, thought Van Vleuten had won gold too.

She congratulated the Dutch cyclist for her "win" in an interview with the BBC.

Lizzie Deignan thinks van Vleuten won too pic.twitter.com/jaFID14a6m

— Carolyn (@carolyn2wheels) July 25, 2021

But it was later announced that Kiesenhofer, an amateur cyclist who no one expected to win, had crossed the finish line first.

Cycling News reported that the absence of race radios and poor communication were to be blamed for the confusion.

She made history on her Olympic debut

Kiesenhofer's win is actually more impressive than one might think.

This was her Olympic debut, and she has already made history by being the first Austrian to win an Olympic road race medal.

The 30-year-old is also the first Austrian to win an Olympic medal in any cycling discipline in 125 years, according to the BBC.

Entered the race without a team and left with a gold medal

Records aside, Kiesenhofer entered the race without a professional team, which meant that she was the only cyclist from her country.

This also meant that she had no teammates she could rely on for help, unlike other cyclists.

According to Cycling News, Kiesenhofer had not raced with a professional team since 2017 when she left the sport and found herself out of contract.

In 2019, she came back as an amateur rider, and won the Austrian national road race and time trial championships.

She also came in 20th in the World Championship time trial, as reported by Cycling News.

Has a PhD and studied at Cambridge University

Outside of cycling, Kiesenhofer is just as impressive.

She has a PhD in applied mathematics from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia in Barcelona, according to CNN.

Prior to that, she graduated from Cambridge University with a master's degree in mathematics.

She currently works at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland, combining research with teaching, according to Cycling News.

Kiesenhofer had used her years of knowledge and expertise while preparing for the Tokyo Olympics.

On July 4, she tweeted a graph demonstrating her heat acclimation process.

https://twitter.com/AnnaKiesenhofer/status/1411359208524726274

What a woman.

Top photo via Getty Images.