I know Noah Lyles miraculous 100m win is the primary Olympic talking point for the USA Today, but Kristen Faulkner had, by far, the best performance by an American today (if perhaps even argue the weekend, even with Ledecky and Simone winning) in her Road Race gold medal performance.

If you didn’t watch today (or don’t watch cycling at all), Faulkner was a beast.  Dragged the reigning world champion (Lotte Kopecky) with her to close down a 35 second deficit from the lead group, which contained arguably the greatest female 1-day racer in history in Marianne Vos.

Then, after being the primary engine in closing the gap (really, Kopecky didn’t do anything), Faulkner IMMEDIATELY attacked with about 3K left and dropped the remaining 3 riders, so badly that they didn’t even attempt to chase.

It’s some of the most impressive riding I’ve seen in a LONG time, and comes from an athlete that didn’t even start racing until 2017.

Amazing stuff.  Go USA.