Figure skating-French duo Fournier Beaudry, Cizeron lead after rhythm dance on European debut

SHEFFIELD, England, Jan 16 : Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron stormed to the top of the ice dance leaderboard at the European Figure Skating Championships on Friday, a result that underscored the promise of their fast-track partnership ahead of the Olympics.

Skating to Vogue by Madonna, the French duo earned 86.93 points in the rhythm dance - just shy of their second-placed score at last month's Grand Prix Final - with an electric performance that drew the crowd to its feet.

It was a promising skate three weeks from the Milano Cortina Olympics, where they are expected to challenge Americans Madison Chock and Evan Bates for gold, and in just their fourth international competition together since they teamed up in March.

"I feel like every time (we compete) is a new experience," said Cizeron. "And it had been a few years since I had been to Europeans. Our focus today was just to get in our bubble and enjoy every moment of this together. And we succeeded doing that."

Britain's Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson were second with 85.47 points, bringing the crowd to its feet with their Spice Girls programme. Three-times defending European champions Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri of Italy were third (84.48).

Cizeron, the reigning Olympic champion and five-times world champion with previous partner Gabriella Papadakis, made headlines earlier this week when he accused Papadakis of spreading false information about him in a "smear campaign."

Papadakis alleged in her book "So as not to Disappear", released on Thursday, that she was under Cizeron's "control" throughout their career.

In a statement earlier this week he said he had "shown deep respect" for Papadakis throughout their career together. He added that his lawyers had