PARIS, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's duo of Iuri Leitao and Rui Oliveira won the gold medal in a men's Madison race that was only decided at the end of a grueling 200 laps.
This is Portugal's first gold medal on the cycling track in Olympic history and comes just two days after Leitao had taken silver in the men's Omnium.
Portugal ended the race with 55 points, ahead of Italy's Simone Consonni and Elia Viviani.
Reigning Olympic champions Denmark claimed the bronze medal after a frantic finish which saw several bad crashes on the track at the Olympic velodrome as the tension ramped up.
German and New Zealand rider went down early, but were able to continue, while Britain's Ollie Wood also took a tumble after a collision with one of the Netherlands' riders.
A nasty smash between Belgium and Spain effectively ended their options, while one of the Italians also went down with 20 laps remaining.
The Madison sees 15 two-person teams compete for a series of intermediate sprints held every 10 laps, with five, three, two and one points respectively awarded for the first four teams over the line.
The race is over a distance of 50 kilometers (200 circuits of the 250-meter track), with only one rider riding at pace at any time. That sees riders launch their companions when they change over the designated rider, with one group riding at race speed, while the riders in the other look to rest their legs for decisive sprints or attempts to lap the field.
