The artwork entitled "Au Vélodrome" by Jean Metzinger, also known as "On the Cycle Track" and "The Cyclist", is an innovative representation of the 1912 Paris-Roubaix race, featuring its winner, Charles Crupelandt.
This revolutionary painting, made of paint, collage, and sand, marks the first example of modern art depicting a specific sporting event with its champion.

In the foreground, a road cyclist is depicted in a unique way, with different transparencies that create confusion between near and far distances. The cyclist appears almost transparent, allowing the viewer to see through him, thus recalling the divisionist style of the artist. The bicycle itself seems to blend between the individual and the collective, symbolizing their unity.
The scene captures a decisive moment of the race, evoking a series of images captured during the final sprint.

The canvas also reveals the presence of another cyclist through the blurred rear wheel on the left, which evokes movement and speed. Metzinger plays with perspectives by superimposing different positions of the handlebar and the bicycle frame, creating a representation of movement through absence. This visual game invites the observer to reflect on the past, present, and future.

The painting combines Cubist and Futurist elements, simplifying geometric forms, juxtaposing rotating planes to define space, and incorporating elements of collage and multiple perspectives. It is part of the modern aesthetic of the machine and speed, capturing the dynamism of the era.

"Au Vélodrome" immortalizes the final moments of the Paris-Roubaix, a notoriously difficult race nicknamed "Hell of the North". Metzinger, a pioneer of modern art, integrated his ideas of multiple perspective, simultaneity, and the fourth dimension into this work, thus demonstrating his ability to rival classic French artistic tradition.