Italian riders Chiara Consonni and Vittoria Guazzini powered to victory in the women’s madison on Friday, only the second time the cycling event has been held at an Olympics.
The pair won three of the 12 sprints to finish on 37 points after a gruelling 120 laps of the Paris velodrome, six clear of world champions Britain in second. The Netherlands won bronze.
The madison is a two-person tactical relay event which features a mass start, with points accumulated from sprints every 10 laps.
Crucially, an extra 20 points can be earned if a team laps the field, which is what Italy managed to do, sending them surging up the leaderboard.
While the discipline dates back 125 years, it was only introduced to the Olympics in Tokyo three years ago, when Britain’s Katie Archibald and Laura Kenny won gold ahead of Denmark and Russia.
