What an excitement that was! The LGCT competition of Cannes had Riesenbeck International as the winner of the GCL Team Competition, consisting out of German riders Philippe Schulze Topphoff and Christian Kukuk. In the individual Qualifier for the LGCT Grand Prix, it was Belgium's Niels Bruynseels who left the other competition to bite the dust.
With only six combinations to go, Niels Bruynseels was leading the podium in the Grand Prix qualifier of the GCL competition in Cannes. Armed with the experience of Delux by T&L (by Toulon), Bruynseels went to battle in this competition. The fourteen-year-old gelding could not be faulted and was guided by Bruynseels to the finish in a fast 69.70 seconds. Maikel van der Vleuten was holding on to his second place. In the saddle of his trusted Beauville Z NOP (by Bustique), he had not made a single mistake and set his time at 70.70 seconds. The bronze was for German Philipp Schulze Topphoff with Carla (by Comme Il Faut), their time was 71,16 seconds.
The Belgian combinations present dominated this GCL Class and showed their worth. For Pieter Devos there was fourth place with MoM's Toupie de La Roque (by Kannan). The mare was originally purchased for the breeding program of Devos and partners, but appears to still have a lot of tricks under the saddle. At six Gilles Thomas shone, he could count on Elfra van Beek Z (by El Salvador) for this top class. Between Devos and Thomas was the Danish Andreas Schou on five in the saddle of Darc de Lux (by Darco).
German Riesenbeck International wins GCL Competition Cannes
In the team competition, it was Riesenbeck International who walked away with the win. German duo Philippe Schulze Topphoff and Christian Kukuk had only four penalty points on their record from the first round. Topphoff stayed double clear with Carla, for Kukuk there was only a fault in the first round in the saddle of KWPN's Just Be Gentle (by Tyson).
New York Empire came in second place with riders Denis Lynch (IRL - PSS Levilensky), Spencer Smith (USA - Theodore Manciais) and Frank Schuttert (NED - Hawaii-S). Istanbul Warriors took the last spot of the podium.