Madison (cycling)

The Madison is a relay race event in track cycling, named after the first Madison Square Garden in New York, and known as the "American race" in French (course à l'américaine) and as Americana in Spanish and in Italian.

The Madison is a race in which the team which completes the most laps wins. Tied positions are split by points awarded for placings at a series of sprints at intervals during the race. Teams usually have two riders but occasionally three. Riders in each team take turns, with only one rider per team racing at any time. After resting, riders can return to the race. To take over, the replacement rider has to be touched, pushed, often on the shorts, or hurled by the departing team member by a hand-sling.

How long each rider stays in the race is for the rider's team to decide. Originally, riders took stints of several hours and the resting rider could sleep or have a meal. That was easier in earlier six-day races because hours could pass without riders attempting to break away from the others. As races became more intensive, both riders from a team began riding simultaneously, one going fast on the shortest racing line around the base of the track and the other idling higher up until that rider's turn to take over. Modern six-day races last less than 12 hours a day and the Madison is now only a featured part, so staying on the track throughout is more feasible.