'We were both hungry for this': Oliver Bleddyn and Zac Marriage win Madison national championship

Oliver Bleddyn and Zac Marriage have claimed one of the most coveted national champion jerseys on offer in Australian track cycling by winning the 2024 elite men's Madison national title at Darebin International Sports Centre in Melbourne.

The two men from Adelaide won by four points ahead of Conor Leahy (Peel District Cycling Club) and Declan Trezise (Darling Downs Cycling Club) and 11 points ahead of Japanese bronze medallists Shoi Matsuda and Naoki Kojima.

It's the first elite Madison national championship triumph for both Bleddyn and Marriage.

"Unfortunately we had a crash early on, maybe 30 laps in, Zac came down pretty hard," Bleddyn said.

"He got back up straightaway and didn't miss a beat. He had his head on and stayed calm and he was super solid throughout the whole race.

"We did it in 2022 together and got fourth. We had another crack at it again this year and we were both super motivated.

"We did a few sessions together in Adelaide and were both super hungry for this."

The 200-lap race lived up to its billing as an annual thriller, with Leahy and Trezise launching a late assault on Bleddyn and Marriage's points lead by scoring 33 of their 46 points in the second half of the Madison.

Bleddyn and Marriage's lead stood at eight points as the final double points sprint loomed.

Matsuda and Kojima made a do or die move immediately after the 10 laps to go sprint and fireworks ensued.

Marriage was swiftly onto the wheel of Matsuda, forcing Leahy and Trezise to chase hard alongside seven other teams in the main bunch.

With two laps to go, a flying James Moriarty (Balmoral Cycling Club) blasted around the leading duo after a strong turn from teammate Blake Agnoletto (Bendigo and District Cycling Club)

The speed and momentum brought forward Trezise and Leahy, setting up a final sprint battle between the top-four teams.

Moriarty's small advantage withered as the bell rang, with Kojima leading the chasing trio of teams followed by Leahy and then Bleddyn.

Leahy powered through to the front on the finishing straight to take the sprint and the 10 points, but his Paris 2024 team pursuit gold medal teammate had done enough behind him to secure the national title by firstly passing Moriarty and then pipping Kojima on the line for good measure.

Feature picture: Con Chronis/AusCycling