In the glamorous world of equestrian sport, few events capture the essence of luxury, competition, and prestige quite like the Longines Global Champions Tour of Ramatuelle, St. Tropez. It was Julien Epaillard who captivated the crowd with Donatello d'Auge to win the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of St Tropez, Ramatuelle.
In the fastest jump-off of the season, last to go in the 5-man jump-off, Christian Kukuk and Mumbai had to settle for second place just 0.44 seconds behind the blistering Frenchman. Fellow countryman Simon Delestre put two home riders on the podium collecting third place with Dexter Fontenis Z.
An emotional Epaillard smiled: "Donatello has won two days here, and it is incredible to win here in front of a home crowd. This horse is just fantastic, the atmosphere at this show is amazing and this is one of my best victories I think. It’s not so easy to win a Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix so we work every day for this, so when this happens we can enjoy it."
Watching the last part of the jump-off was a long one for me. With lots of dangerous riders coming anything could happen. To qualify for the LGCT Super Grand Prix is special and we will do our best to make sure we are in the best form."
After his second, silver position finish of the year, Kukuk told GCTV: "I still have the eye on the golden ticket to the LGCT Super Grand Prix for sure - it’s not over. This is the second time I am second now [this year], so that is a little bit disappointing - but it is not a shame to be beaten by Julien Epaillard; he is one of the fastest riders on our circuit and I was very close."
A beaming Simon Delestre smiled: "It’s really amazing to be here, I always enjoy to be here in St. Tropez - it is a very special show. Dexter has had an amazing start to the year. He was second and third in Doha, and now still third, so it’s very positive for the rest of the season, I can only be happy with this result."
After the fifth stage of the 2023 Longines Global Champions Tour Championship and with dramatic results in today’s competition the rankings have tightened up making it one to watch in Cannes next week. Current Championship standings are:
- Maikel Van Der Vleuten: 135 points
- Abdel Said: 109 points
- Christian Kukuk: 103.2 points
- Malin Baryard-Johnsson: 101 points
- Simon Delestre: 98 points