Russia just hold the ascendancy in the team competition after a superb first day at the European Cup Combined Events Super League in Torun where the Netherlands are taking individual honours.
Dutch athletes are leading both disciplines - with Ingmar Vos ahead in the decathlon and Nadine Broersen at the helm of the heptathlon, but the drama of this European Cup is all about the joint scores.
The team title is decided with the top three athletes' results from both men and women being added together and overnight in Poland showed how close and exciting the second day is going to be.
Russia are in front with 22,371 points, only 12 ahead of France, the defending champions, with the Netherlands third with 23,322.
Vos, whose best championship performance was fifth in the heptathlon at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Paris in 2011, leads the decathlon with 4132 from Eduard Mikhan, of Belarus, with 4080 and France’s Romain Martin, with 4064.
With a score of 3773, Broersen, this year's IAAF World Indoor pentathlon champion, has a 68 point advantage over France’s Antoinette Nana Djimou, who was fourth in this competition in Tallinn 12 months ago, with Estonia’s Grit Sadeiko third with 3671. She is 31 ahead of Russia's Aleksandra Butvina in fourth.
It was France who made the first impression in their bid to retain the crown as Jeremy Lelievre gave them a flying opening in the 100m.
Infact, it was literally from the start as Lelievre was in the first race of the day - out of four heats - which he won in 10.98 and no-one else went quicker. Vos took the second in 11.23 but that gave him only 11th in the rankings.
At the end of Saturday, Russian Sergey Sviridov found himself fourth overall with 4058, a position which was greatly helped by the second event, the long jump, which he won with a best of 7.53m from his opening effort. He was in Group A, while in Group B, Vos won his section with 7.44m from the final of his three jumps to finish second in the combined scores
Russia’s strength in the field events was shown once again in the shot put, as they slowly moved towards their position at the top of the table.
It was there that Yevgeniy Sarantsev delivered a best of 15.24m from the opening round - the only athlete to pass the 15m mark.
He could do it only once - his next two distances were 14.70m and 14.90m - but once was all he needed as it brought him and the team 804 points.
While winning a decathlon is about consistency and not so much finishing first in any of the events, Vos did achieve top spot - joint at least - in the high jump.
And he chose the perfect time to produce a personal best as he went over at 2.07m to share the victory with Belarusian Aliaksandr Dzerhachou, with both men winning their respective groups.
The 400m which brought the decathlon to an end was also about a personal best, too, as Great Britain’s Liam Ramsay triumphed in 47.59 from heat three. Vos had run in the previous race where he was fifth in 50.64, as Switzerland’s Michael Bucher won in 49.52, which put the Dutchman in 21st place in the event, but he had done enough during the day itself to hold the lead.
Sadeiko is the quickest of them all
Poland had already proved a happy hunting ground for Broersen with her indoor glory in Sopot in March, while the host nation also had the defending European Cup Combined Events heptathlon champion in Karolina Tyminska this weekend.
But it was Sadeiko who showed her class on the track as she won two of the day’s four events.
The last of the four heats of the 100m hurdles produced the first five fastest women.
Tyminska was fifth in 14.11 as Sadeiko won in a season’s best of 13.45 from Britain’s Jessica Tappin in 13.50, Broersen in 13.57 and Nana Djimou in 13.59.
Yana Maksimava, of Belarus, won the high jump with 1.90m with Broersen moving in front overall as she was second with 1.87m with Sadeiko in seventh as she equalled her personal best of 1.78m.
Butvina triumphed in the shot put for Russia with 15.13m - like the men, the only athlete to go over 15m - as Nana Djimou finished second with 14.65m to keep herself in the running with Broersen maintaining her fine day in fourth with 13.89m.
The 200m took the story back to the start of the day as Sadeiko was the fastest as she ran 24.33 to win the final heat with Broersen sixth in that race in 25.09, but enough to have the advantage overnight. Tyminska did not finish the race and finds herself last in the overall standings.
The First and Second Leagues are both taking place in Madeira.
In the First, Ukraine are ahead with 22,700 from the Czech Republic with 22,031 and Sweden with 21,850 and it is the women who are playing a big part for the leaders.
But it is not the World champion Hanna Melnychenko who is at the front of the field.
Overnight, it is her teammate Alina Fyodorova with 3762 from Eliska Klucinova, of the Czech Republic, with 3682 while Ukraine have the next two spots, with Anastasiya Mokhnyuk third with 3620 and Melnychenko fourth with 3551.
Jiri Sykora, of the Czech Republic, leads the decathlon with 4194 from Petter Olson, of Sweden, with 4120, and Norway’s Lars Vikan Rise with 4103.
Romania are at the top of the Second League with 20,537 from Iceland with 19,120 and Türkiye with 17,955.
Belgium’s Niels Pittomvils is ahead in the decathlon with 4019 from Ionel Irinel Cojan, of Romania, with 3965, and Ireland’s Michael Bowler with 3776.
The heptathlon has Lucia Mokrasova, of Slovakia, first with 3569 from Iceland’s Sveinbjorg Zophoniasdottir with 3428 and Beatrice Puiu, of Romania, with 3403.