Niels Brurynseels just won the first Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of the season. In the saddle of Delux van T & L (by Toulon) he managed to jump a clear round in 39.93 seconds. In doing so, he left Lorenzo de Luca (Nuance Bleue VDM Z) and Eric Lamaze (Dieu Merci by T & L) behind. "Sometimes you just have to be lucky," Bruynseels laughed afterwards.
Remarkable was that he rode Delux only in the Grand Prix this weekend: "That was a conscious choice. My horse felt so good last week that I decided to start him only in the GP this weekend. I didn't think it was useful to make him tired unnecessarily and wanted to save his strength for today. So that turned out really well," he laughs.
With this Grand Prix victory, Bruynseels also has a ticket for the final in Prague: "Of course I'm very happy. This is a championship at a very high level. The best riders and horses in the world are competing here. So I'm very pleased to have secured my place in the final so early in the season," he concludes.
Photo: Stefano Grasso