After the men's Madison competition at the Paris Olympics, the contrast between experienced champions and young up-and-comers could not be greater.

Italy's Elia Viviani and Simone Consonni framed their silver medals among multiple Olympic medals, while Mikhail Morkov compared his new bronze medal to his dream gold medal in the Madison in Tokyo, while surprise gold medalist Rui Oliveira, a cyclist spontaneously dropped f-bombs in disbelief that his first professional victory as a professional was an Olympic gold medal.

"I have no words. This whole thing is like a dream," said an astonished Oliveira after the race. I can't believe I'm alive. I don't think I'm alive. I've never won anything in my life. If someone told me I would win the Olympics for the first time, I would say, 'You've got to be kidding me! I would say, 'You've got to be kidding!

Oliveira helped Tadej Pogachar win this year's Giro d'Italia. He was Juan Ayuso's wingman at last year's Vuelta a España. His best result before Saturday was second behind Magnus Corto on stage 19 of the 2021 Vuelta. He is a helper, a domestique, and the second best rider. His gold medal win overturned a disadvantage and proved that he is within reach of the best riders in the world.

Olivieria's unbridled joy at winning the gold medal is what makes the Olympics the Olympics. It is the carnival that gives outsiders the chance to defeat gladiators and win fame and fortune with their fragile bodies, and he and Leitao put on a glorious show.

"We're not exactly one of the favorites to win this race, but we rolled with all our hearts and pushed to the limit with our brothers and family here," Oliveira said.

"We had a perfect race in the last part of the race. I had a perfect race in the last lap.

The gold medal, won with omnium world champion and Olympic omnium silver medalist Iuli Leitao, was Portugal's first in any sport other than track and field, and Oliveira's first victory in his life.

It was also a fairy-tale come-from-behind victory that became the script for a major Hollywood movie.

Oliveira and Leitao were 14 points off the lead after three-quarters of the 200-lap race, well out of medal contention. However, they had a "Hail Mary" plan to win the race in the final quarter.

With the experienced Italian duo of Viviani and Conssoni leading the race ahead of Denmark's Morkov and Niklas Larsen, Portugal was in medal contention. Portugal was in the hunt for a medal. But the aggressive racing wore on the legs and nerves of the top racers, and it was time to attack.

"Iuli told me to hang on for the last 50 laps. 'I have a feeling someone is going to attack, so we'll just have to wait for that attack.'

"[After the attack came] we just went for it. We put pressure on them and they all blew up. We just kept going. [With seven laps to go, I looked at the board and saw first place. I didn't think it was possible, but I ended up being the Olympic Champion.

Leitao was calm in his post-race press conference, but his racing style was as much an avid beaver as Oliveira's words. At last year's World Championships in Glasgow, he suddenly surprised the field in the men's omnium with a relentless attack that earned him the rainbow jersey.

When Portugal attacked early in the Olympic Madison, his rivals might have expected it to be a flash in the pan. But he knew that Madison would be a different type of competition.

"The last 25 laps were supposed to be full gas. We anticipated that everyone would be really, really tired. And we were confident we could beat them. And in the end, we were right," Leitao said.

"We knew the points were really close. I won the last sprint and took the lap. We were only two points behind. The Italians were very fast in the sprint and the Danish riders were fast. I was going to do the last sprint and in the end I got the result I wanted."

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In the end, the Italians botched the final exchange, Conssoni crashed, and Viviani was unable to follow their attack, ending what should have been a fairly heated finale, but instead saw Oliveira and Leitao take the gold.

The Portuguese duo may not have been aware of their rivals' bad luck.

"I've never won a championship in my life," Olivier said.

"I still don't know if this is real, to be an Olympic champion on my first win. It's insane."

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