Following two rounds of intense competition in Antwerp and Madrid, the Longines Global Champions Tour 2014 official series is set to be one of our most hotly contested seasons ever. A host of big names have already made their mark on the Championship Ranking, which is currently led by 2008 Olympic Gold medallist Eric Lamaze (CAN) with 54 points. Lamaze is on equal points with the young Italian star Emanuele Gaudiano, but the Canadian has the higher Grand Prix placing finish to his name thus giving him the No1 spot. Just one point behind the leaders is 2011 and 2012 LGCT Champion Edwina Tops-Alexander (AUS), still the highest earning rider on the Tour and with an impressive five LGCT Grand Prix titles to her name. Young up-and-coming Qatari Bassem Hassan Mohammed is just one point behind Tops-Alexander in 4th place. Mohammed has struck up a great partnership with his new horse Primeval Dejavu - the combination have not lowered a rail so far in an LGCT Grand Prix, giving the Qatari some of the best results of his career so far. A truly talented Top Ten The rest of the Championship Ranking Top Ten reads like a who’s who of show jumping - twelve points behind the top four is 2014 Dutch Champion and LGCT Madrid Grand Prix winner Maikel van der Vleuten (NED), whose first outdoor event of the 2014 season for his talented mount VDL Groep Verdi proved to be a lucrative one with the Dutchman taking home the major share of the €320,000 prize fund. On equal points with van der Vleuten is USA Olympic star McLain Ward, winner of the first LGCT Antwerp Grand Prix and one of the most prolific winners in show jumping - he is always tough to beat. Close behind, German legend Marcus Ehning lies in equal seventh with Rolf-Göran Bengtsson (SWE) on 37 points. Marcus has voiced his intention to do as many of the Tour’s events this year as he can and many have tipped the maestro as favourite to be crowned 2014 Champion. Unfortunately for injury-plagued Bengtsson, his Silver medal position in Round One is looking as though it might be one of his last, as on-going physical problems continue to trouble him. A rising star and a welcome return In equal ninth sits LGCT Antwerp Bronze medallist Constant van Paesschen (BEL) and LGCT Madrid Bronze medallist Gerco Schröder (NED). The 20-year-old Belgian exploded onto the Tour at last year’s final where he finished 5th in his first ever LGCT Grand Prix. Van Paesschen is hoping to compete at every LGCT event this season and this talented young rider is sure to produce more great results. Madrid saw a welcome return to competition for the incredibly popular combination of Gerco Schröder and Glock’s London following Schröder’s move to Team Glock last month. The beautiful chestnut stallion was in fantastic form after his four month break from the competition arena. A single time fault in the second round of the Grand Prix separated Schröder from the jump-off for Gold and Silver between Marcus Ehning and Maikel van der Vleuten - there is definately more to come from this talented duo. In hot pursuit Just outside the Top Ten there are a number of riders who are by no means out of contention. At this early stage in the Championship race, riders such as Patrice Delaveau (FRA) in 11th, Ben Maher in 14th and Daniel Deusser in 16th are not far away. Last year's Champion Scott Brash (GBR) and Hello Sanctos had an unlucky rail down in his first LGCT of the season in Madrid, but there is still plenty of opportunities for the World No1 to get points on the board in the upcoming events with 12 rounds left to go. How the Ranking works… There are 14 rounds in the LGCT 2014 series. A maximum of the seven best Grand Prix results count towards a rider’s final classification at the end of the season, regardless of whether they do seven rounds of the Tour or all 14. Only riders who qualify for the second round of a Grand Prix (usually top 18) may obtain points. Points are awarded as follows: 1st: 40 2nd: 37 3rd: 35 4th: 33 5th: 32 6th: 31 7th: 30 ..and so on to around 18th or 19th place. At the end of the season in Doha, the overall Champion is crowned! Where to watch Don't forget you can watch all of our events live on GCT TV via our website (Hamburg is next from the 29 May- 1 June) and you can follow all of the latest news and updates on our social media channels. You can also catch our Grand Prix on Eurosport, ClassHorseTV, Equidia Life and beIN (Al Jazeera), as well as national channels - see the broadcast schedule on our individual event pages for more information. © GCT
Following two rounds of intense competition in Antwerp and Madrid, the Longines Global Champions Tour 2014 official series is set to be one of our most hotly contested seasons ever. A host of big names have already made their mark on the Championship Ranking, which is currently led by 2008 Olympic Gold medallist Eric Lamaze (CAN) with 54 points. Lamaze is on equal points with the young Italian star Emanuele Gaudiano, but the Canadian has the higher Grand Prix placing finish to his name thus giving him the No1 spot. Just one point behind the leaders is 2011 and 2012 LGCT Champion Edwina Tops-Alexander (AUS), still the highest earning rider on the Tour and with an impressive five LGCT Grand Prix titles to her name. Young up-and-coming Qatari Bassem Hassan Mohammed is just one point behind Tops-Alexander in 4th place. Mohammed has struck up a great partnership with his new horse Primeval Dejavu - the combination have not lowered a rail so far in an LGCT Grand Prix, giving the Qatari some of the best results of his career so far. A truly talented Top Ten The rest of the Championship Ranking Top Ten reads like a who’s who of show jumping - twelve points behind the top four is 2014 Dutch Champion and LGCT Madrid Grand Prix winner Maikel van der Vleuten (NED), whose first outdoor event of the 2014 season for his talented mount VDL Groep Verdi proved to be a lucrative one with the Dutchman taking home the major share of the €320,000 prize fund. On equal points with van der Vleuten is USA Olympic star McLain Ward, winner of the first LGCT Antwerp Grand Prix and one of the most prolific winners in show jumping - he is always tough to beat. Close behind, German legend Marcus Ehning lies in equal seventh with Rolf-Göran Bengtsson (SWE) on 37 points. Marcus has voiced his intention to do as many of the Tour’s events this year as he can and many have tipped the maestro as favourite to be crowned 2014 Champion. Unfortunately for injury-plagued Bengtsson, his Silver medal position in Round One is looking as though it might be one of his last, as on-going physical problems continue to trouble him. A rising star and a welcome return In equal ninth sits LGCT Antwerp Bronze medallist Constant van Paesschen (BEL) and LGCT Madrid Bronze medallist Gerco Schröder (NED). The 20-year-old Belgian exploded onto the Tour at last year’s final where he finished 5th in his first ever LGCT Grand Prix. Van Paesschen is hoping to compete at every LGCT event this season and this talented young rider is sure to produce more great results. Madrid saw a welcome return to competition for the incredibly popular combination of Gerco Schröder and Glock’s London following Schröder’s move to Team Glock last month. The beautiful chestnut stallion was in fantastic form after his four month break from the competition arena. A single time fault in the second round of the Grand Prix separated Schröder from the jump-off for Gold and Silver between Marcus Ehning and Maikel van der Vleuten - there is definately more to come from this talented duo. In hot pursuit Just outside the Top Ten there are a number of riders who are by no means out of contention. At this early stage in the Championship race, riders such as Patrice Delaveau (FRA) in 11th, Ben Maher in 14th and Daniel Deusser in 16th are not far away. Last year's Champion Scott Brash (GBR) and Hello Sanctos had an unlucky rail down in his first LGCT of the season in Madrid, but there is still plenty of opportunities for the World No1 to get points on the board in the upcoming events with 12 rounds left to go. How the Ranking works… There are 14 rounds in the LGCT 2014 series. A maximum of the seven best Grand Prix results count towards a rider’s final classification at the end of the season, regardless of whether they do seven rounds of the Tour or all 14. Only riders who qualify for the second round of a Grand Prix (usually top 18) may obtain points. Points are awarded as follows: 1st: 40 2nd: 37 3rd: 35 4th: 33 5th: 32 6th: 31 7th: 30 ..and so on to around 18th or 19th place. At the end of the season in Doha, the overall Champion is crowned! Where to watch Don't forget you can watch all of our events live on GCT TV via our website (Hamburg is next from the 29 May- 1 June) and you can follow all of the latest news and updates on our social media channels. You can also catch our Grand Prix on Eurosport, ClassHorseTV, Equidia Life and beIN (Al Jazeera), as well as national channels - see the broadcast schedule on our individual event pages for more information. © GCT