By Martyn Herman
SAINT QUENTIN-EN-YVELINES, France (Reuters) - Portugal claimed their first-ever Olympic track cycling gold medal as Iuri Leitao and Rui Oliviera blasted out of nowhere to win a crash-littered men's Madison race on Saturday.
After 200 laps of mayhem the Portuguese duo plotted a way through the chaos to top the leaderboard with 55 points to Italy's 47. Tokyo champions Denmark were third on 41.
Leitao won Portugal's first-ever Olympic track cycling medal when he was runner-up in the omnium to France's Benjamin Thomas on Thursday but two days later he went one better.
The 26-year-old looked stunned at the finish, steering his bike to the top of the steep banking before awkwardly getting out of the saddle and sitting in the middle of the track.
Oliviera, who had never won a top-level race in his life, was in equal disbelief as he hugged family members.
"We trained hard to do the last five or six minutes at full gas and I saved my golden bullet until last," Leitao told reporters. "Before the omnium I thought these riders were like supermen but after that I knew they were beatable."
A crazy race began with Austria's duo taking a lap almost immediately before being lapped numerous times and being pulled out. That set the tone for things to come.
Italians Simone Consonni and veteran former Olympic omnium champion Elia Viviani took command as they mopped up points by winning four of the first nine sprints and then rocketing clear in the standings after taking 20 points for gaining a lap.
Denmark's Niklas Larsen and Michael Moerkoev were also in the frame, as were Spain and briefly the Czechs, but Portugal, who scored only eight points in the first 150 laps, suddenly caught fire as the race began to disintegrate.
They won three successive sprints, bagging five points for each, then gained a lap for another 20. Oliviera then timed his last hand-sling perfectly to launch Leitao on the final sprint to deliver Portugal's first gold of the Games.
It marked an incredible 12 months for Leitao who a year ago became a world champion in the omnium.
LATE CRASH
Italy were left to rue a late crash that left Consonni, brother of Chiara Consonni who won gold in the women's Madison 24 hours earlier, on the deck. He and Viviani were able to continue but could not respond to Portugal's late onslaught.
'We knew the race was going to explode," Viviani said. "Leitao was on fire and the reality is they took a lap at the hardest part of the race so they deserved it."
Crashes marred the race with Spain's Albert Torres Barcelo arguing with judges after being told he could not continue after he was catapulted through the air after hitting a grounded bike.
Britain's Oliver Wood was also involved in an ugly accident and needed head checks after a Dutch rider took him out with what looked like a dangerous move.
Earlier on Saturday, Malaysia's twice Olympic medallist Azizulhasni Awang was disqualified from the keirin as his glittering career ended in sad fashion.
Awang, nicknamed the "pocket rocket", was excluded after overtaking the motorised derny before it pulled off the track.
The 36-year-old, who won bronze in Rio and silver in Tokyo, looked distraught as he sat down alongside his coaches.
A frenetic final day of racing is in store on Sunday when Britain's Emma Finucane will be favourite for the women's sprint having already won the team event, while Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen will attempt to claim a third gold of the Games.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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