Women's Olympic road race champion Anna Kiesenhofer has joined Spanish continental team Soltec ahead of September's Serratigit Challenge by La Vuelta.

The Austrian, who was a surprise solo winner in Tokyo last summer, has not raced for a professional team since a season with Lotto Soudal in 2017. However, Murcia's team, Soltec, announced that the 31-year-old has signed on ahead of the final race of the 2022 Women's World Tour.

In a statement released on August 1, Soltec said Kiesenhofer had joined the team "with the goal of excelling in the mountain stages" of the Serratigit Challenge.

It is not clear whether Kiesenhofer will continue to ride for the team after this year.

"The addition of Kiesenhofer is a turning point for the Soltec team," said team manager Marcelino Oliver. 'For the past three years we have been working hard to set up a solid, ambitious project that will allow us to focus on our big goals, and we're excited to have Kiesenhofer on board.'

"Kiesenhofer is the ideal person to lead this (Selatigit) Challenge by La Vuelta and perfectly represents many of the sporting and human values that this team has always wanted to instill in its members. I admire her work ethic, perseverance, integrity, and professionalism and sacrifice. Her cycling spirit fits us ideally.

"The addition of Kiesenhofer completely changes the competitive approach of the team. It is a great challenge and a great motivation for the team to win or even finish higher in the most important races on the Spanish calendar.

The addition of Kiesenhofer will raise the profile of the Soltec team, which has competed in a limited calendar this year, especially in Spain. The team will make its debut this season at the Serratigit Challenge.

The Olympic champion, who competed in last season's European and World Championships, finished second in both the road race and time trial at the Austrian Championships in June.

Late last year, Kiesenhofer, a Swiss-based mathematician, announced that he would continue racing as an independent rider sponsored by the Swiss Chrono Group until 2024.