By Martyn Herman
IZU, Japan (Reuters) – Italy produced an electrifying finish to beat favourites Denmark for gold in a thrilling men’s team pursuit final at the Izu Velodrome on Wednesday.
Powered home by Filippo Ganna, they clawed back almost a second in the closing laps to claim victory in another world record, having also lowered it on Tuesday.
Their winning time was 3:42.032 with the Danes 0.166 back,
Italy celebrated wildly at the finish as they ended their country’s long wait for an Olympic gold medal in the men’s team pursuit, having won their record seventh in 1960.
The blue-clad Italian train had led for the first half of the four km but Denmark turned the screw, catching up and then opening up what looked to be a decisive lead.
But with road world champion Ganna on the front, Italy fought back to win a thriller.
Australia won the ride-off for bronze after New Zealand suffered a crash.
Britain, who had bossed the event since 2008 but were thrashed by the Danes in controversial circumstances on Tuesday, had to settle for seventh.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman; editing by Clare Fallon)
