On an eventful night at the Latrobe oval, the riders both stormed home from scratch to claim close wins in the annual carnival's blue ribbon events before committing to the rest of the Tasmanian series.

O'Shea, 23, who came second in the team pursuit and fifth in the omnium in London, took advantage of some strong work by a large group of backmarkers to win the $8000, 3000-metre race in three minutes, 14.23 seconds, with Ulverstone's Ben Price adding a second to his two third-place finishes and another South Australian, Joshua Harrison, completing the podium.

The reigning omnium world champion and Australian male track cyclist of the year, O'Shea was swift to thank his fellow scratchmen Jack Edwards, of Sydney, Ulverstone's Luke Ockerby and fellow track world champions Kenny De Ketele and Franco Marvulli.

``It was an interesting final because there were a lot of riders at the back and we got up really early, which can create a lot of confusion,'' he said.

``I thought I had it in the bag with a lap to go, but Ben Price hit out a little bit early and I managed to get him.

``I've been coming here since 2005 and until last year had never won one of the big races so last year was a relief and to come back and get two in a row was really good.''

O'Shea said he had two weeks off after the Olympics but said it was always a goal to return to Tasmania and defend his Latrobe title.