TEENAGERS Dan Fitter and Callum Scotson withstood spirited challengers from a crack field to win Sunday night's McCaig Airconditioning Daikin-backed Bendigo International Madison cycling classic.
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The 18-year-olds became one of the youngest teams to win the biggest madison in the southern hemisphere.
Junior world champions in teams pursuit, Fitter and Scotson celebrated the biggest victory of their track careers in Australia.
A solo attack was capped by gaining a lap at 130 to go in the 200-lap showdown.
Sunshine Coast-based Fitter raced the BIM for the first time.
For South Australian-based Scotson's it was his third start.
Both said the victory was an "amazing feeling".
Their ability to take a lap and then answer the counter-attacks by higher-rated opponents was superb.
"We saw an opportunity and took it," Scotson said.
"Dan is a more aggressive rider than me, so I was confident we could stay a lap up."
They took on and beat world track champions Jack Bobridge and Bendigo star Glenn O'Shea, Germany's Christian Grassman and Leif Lampater, and a host of other teams who set a cracking pace in the 80km race.
"Once we were a lap it was a huge adrenalin rush," said Fitter.
Scotson's third start in the BIM, this time racing for the Rising Sun Hotel, was to be a memorable one.
Both said they gained confidence from when they teamed up in the Australian Madison in Melbourne.
"This race suited us more, mainly because of our road background," Fitter said.
Scotson's older brother, Miles had been runner-up in Bendigo two years in a row.
The latest Bendigo International Madison winners praised the influence of national track endurance coach Tim Decker, who teamed with Chris White to win the BIM in 1996.
Leading teams in the Bendigo International Madison:
Dan Fitter and Callum Scotson 26 points, 0 laps down; Christian Grassman-Leif Lampater (Germany) 85, -1; Jack Bobridge-Glenn O'Shea 62, -1; Graeme Brown-Sam Welsford 50, -1; Jackson Law-Nick Yallouris 47, -1; Sam Crome-Roy Pieters (Netherlands) 27, -1; Mark O'Brien-Sam Witmitz 23, -1; Brad Evans (NZ)-Brendan Schultz 23, -1.
