Title to Portugal

Schmidbauer/Kokas do not finish in the Madison

(Bild: AFP or licensors)

For the Austrian track cyclists Maximilian Schmidbauer and Raphael Kokas, their Olympic debut in the Madison did not go according to plan. The red-white-red duo finished last in the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome on Saturday. 

After 200 laps of 250 m each, the title went to Iuri Leitao/Rui Oliveira from Portugal.

"I don't know what to say. We have been training for this day for two years. It was all about getting everything right today," said a disappointed Schmidbauer on ORF. "It's not what we wanted." At the start of the race, the Austrian team still caused a stir. By winning the first sprint classification (5 points) and a lap win (20), Schmidbauer/Kokas took the lead. However, it didn't take long for the pair to pay tribute to the high initial pace.

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Austria collected one penalty lap after another and were taken out of the race after around two thirds of the laps to be completed. "We tried the attack at the start. But the pace was damn high, so unfortunately we had to pay the price. We completely blew up," explained Kokas.

Despite all the disappointment, the debutants were already looking ahead. Schmidbauer (22 years old) and Kokas (19 years old) were by far the youngest duo in the starting field. They are therefore very confident about the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, said Kokas.

The U23 European champion made his Olympic debut unexpectedly. Tim Wafler would actually have competed alongside Schmidbauer. However, the Viennese had to pull out due to injury, as tendinitis in his hip had become acute again. Wafler had finished 13th in the omnium competition on Thursday.