Madison, Men

Sixteen pairs started with seven of them eventually finishing on the same lap of the 50 km. race. Sprint points were awarded after a field sprint at every 5 km. The British team of Rob Hayles and Bradley Wiggins won the first sprint, and led with 10 points at the halfway mark, which actually was enough for the bronze medal. But they crashed just afterwards, had to work to rejoin the leaders, and would not gain any more points until finishing third in the final sprint. Australia’s Graeme Brown and Stuart O’Grady won only one sprint, the fourth, but placed second in the final four sprints to win the gold medal with 22 points. O’Grady finally managed a gold, after a silver and two bronzes (1992, 1996) and no medals in 2000. Switzerland’s Bruno Risi and Franco Marvulli, the 2003 World Champions (and later in 2007), stayed with the leaders throughout but had won no points after seven sprints. But they finished strong, winning the last three field sprints for 15 points and the silver medal.