One of the highlights of the week was just ridden in Mechelen: the Grand Prix. In this Grand Prix Sport Vlaanderen there was a separate jump-off with a height of 1m50. The riders were presented with a tough basic course: the double jump against the grandstand went down regularly and also the last obstacle, an oxer towards the VIP, fell out of the scoop more than once. In the end, five riders still managed to keep the clear. The Belgians took three of the jump-off places: Thibault Philippaerts, Jeroen Appelen and Olivier Philippaerts defended the Belgian tricolor. They were joined in the jump-off by Willem Greve and Edouard Schmitz.
Thibault Philippaerts was expected to be the first rider in the arena. The VLP Talent of the Year clearly wanted to do full justice to his brand-new title. With Derby de Riverland (by Kannan), he immediately took off like a dart and was clearly keen to set a fast reference time. He succeeded, Philippaerts took all the risks and eventually clocked off in 37.88 seconds. A very fast time but unfortunately the duo also got one jumping fault behind their name.
Jeroen Appelen was up next. He saddled Moningo-D van't Heyveld (by Thunder vd Zuuthoeve) to compete in this jump-off. We all know that Appelen is a very fast rider, and he demonstrated that once again this evening to the audience in Mechelen. In front of the approving eyes of his home crowd he went all out to secure the victory. He eventually jumped a clear round in 37.38 seconds, allowing him to set a better time than Philippaerts. Moreover, he left all the bars in the scoops which immediately put him in the lead.
Willem Greve, who yesterday already jumped on the podium in the main class of Mechelen, came next in the arena. Greve has already had a good week and it was no surprise that he too immediately went all out to take the win. He turned in the double very sharply, took every risk but all risks turned out to his advantage. He smashed Appelen's time by doing it almost two seconds faster.
The only one who could then still ensure a Belgian victory was Olivier Philippaerts. He pulled out his trusty mare H&M Legend of Love (by Landzauber) and if we can say one thing about this mare, it is that she can be very fast. The Mechelen audience held its breath and saw Olivier match Greve's time but he too, like his brother Thibault, got one jumping fault behind his name.
The only one who could prevent a Dutch victory at that point was Edouard Schmitz. The Swiss talent also pulled out all the stops to take first place. However, he could not keep the zero on the scoreboard in the saddle of Gamin van'y Naastveldhof (by Chacco Chacco). His time of 42.86 seconds would eventually earn him fifth place.