Ladies Katrijn De Clercq European champion U23 Madison

The outdoor track in Cottbus, Germany, was 333 meters long instead of the usual 250 meters. This meant the riders had to race differently than they were used to. "That didn’t make it any easier," says Katrijn De Clercq. "Madison is always about counting to time the sprint well. The longer track required some extra calculations."

The European Championship had a particularly thrilling finish thanks to the Belgian duo. "We kept switching positions with the British women. At the beginning, they were ahead of us, then we were ahead. At the end, they were six points ahead, which is a lot, but with four laps to go, we were able to attack. In the final sprint, we grabbed ten points while the British got none, allowing us to win. We are, of course, very happy. Soon, Hélène and I will be competing together at the Olympic Games. This was the perfect dress rehearsal."

Picture: PhotoNews