Olympics-Cycling-No plan, no problem, as Italy grab Madison gold

By Martyn Herman

SAINT QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (Reuters) -So chaotic is the Olympic track cycling Madison event that all the best-laid plans can be shredded in the blink of an eye - so newly crowned women's champions Italy opted not to even have one.

Instead, Chiara Consonni and Vittoria Guazzini seized their opportunity late on with an audacious move taking them from mid-ranking on the leaderboard to the gold medal.

The relay-type event covering 120 laps of the velodrome sees teams of two riders per nation take it in turns to race in the peloton -- handing over to their teammate via a unique arm sling.

With points awarded for sprints every 10 laps, and for long-range attacks which lap the field, it can be a mind-boggling affair even for those taking part, and strategy is key.

Friday's Olympic final was actually refreshingly simple. The Netherlands team of Maike van der Duin and Lisa van Belle leapt to the top of the points standings after catching everyone by surprise to take a lap on the field.

They looked on course for gold but the Italians, who had been outside the medals, went on the charge late on, grabbed a lap and the 20-point bonus, and maintained their pace to secure victory with 37 points.

Britain's reigning world champions Elinor Barker and Neah Evans poured on the power in the last three laps to win the final sprint and leapfrog the Dutch for silver.

"We actually didn't have a clear plan of how we wanted to race," Guazzini told Reuters. "We did the first two sprints but we were a bit behind the other teams.

"At some point I was thinking everyone has to be tired because it was such a fast pace, but I was less tired and just decided to go and Chiara was ready to react immediately.

"We went all out to gain the lap and then I saw the points and I said 'We're gonna win this race'."

It was Italy's first gold of the track cycling programme and made up for the team pursuits in which the men were de-throned as Olympic champions and the women finished fourth.

"We were motivated, really disappointed after the fourth place in the team pursuit," said Guazzini, who like Consonni rides professionally on the road.

"We showed that we are a great team."

(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Hugh Lawson)