Both teams established themselves as leaders after the first round in the 02 Arena, where they incurred eight penalty points each, with Paris Panthers in third place with 16 points.

Valkenswaard’s Bertram Allen  became the only rider to complete two clear rounds on Harley vd Bishop, but his team-mates Alberto Zorzi, on Contanga 3, and Marcus Ehning, on Comme Il Faut, registered nine faults between them on the second run, giving their team a total of 17 faults.

Riding last, Madrid knew they had points to spare but their trio of Marc Houtzager on Sterrehof’s Calimero, Maikel Van Der Vleuten on Verdi TN, who had a clear round on the first run, and Eduardo Alvarez Aznar on Rokfeller de Pleville Bois, incurred only a single time point each to finish with a winning total of 11 faults.

The Paris Panthers team of Yuri Mansur on Ibelle Ask, Gregory Wathelet on MJT Nevados S and Darragh Kenny on Balou De Reventon finished third with 26 points, ahead of Scandinavian Vikings, whose total was 27.

London Knights, featuring overall Global Champions Tour winner Ben Maher, were eliminated after the first round along with Montreal Diamonds.

But even the last two teams were well rewarded in this lucrative new event as they each received €411,520 (£369,000/$465,000) from a total prize fund of €6.4 million (£5.75million/$7.25million).