Beerbaum wins Lausanne Grand Prix to head rankings

Riding Chaman, Beerbaum came out on top over Whitaker and his horse Argento in the final jump-off by just 0.81 seconds. Third place went to the relative newcomer in the LGCT, Argentina's José Maria Larocca with GDE Matrix, who finished one of just two other treble clears 0.84 seconds ahead of the Netherlands’ Gerco Schroeder and Cognac Champblanc in fourth place.

With this win on the edge of Lake Geneva, Beerbaum, the four-times Olympic Gold medallist, has stormed up the Tour Rankings from fourth to first place taking a narrow lead of 15 points with only two events to go.

The picturesque lakeside showground was packed for the Grand Prix showdown and the spectators were not to be disappointed. The first round of Luc Musette's Grand Prix course was a twisting, turning gauntlet with a number of bogey fences.

Tour leader Rolf-Göran Bengtsson with his relatively inexperienced horse Clarimo Ask lowered two fences in the first round and did not make the top 18 cut for the second round, opening up his top spot on the tour ranking to attack from those below him.

However one of those favourites to challenge, the World number one Scott Brash, who has won three rounds of the LGCT this season with Hello Sanctos, retired halfway round after collecting eight faults early on riding with Hello Annie.

Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander, herself a long-time leader of the rankings but still only down in third, also dropped out of the running in the second round with 14 faults as did Qatar’s Bassem Hassan Mohammed, sitting in fifth place, with 12 faults. But it was a less familiar faces on the LGCT, Larocca with GDE Matrix who rose to the occasion by going on to jump a double clear.

The jump-off saw Gerco Schroeder lead with a careful but neat round and setting a time of 40 seconds dead. Beerbaum was next to go and rode what he described as a "close to perfect round" to stop the clock at 37.50 seconds.

John Whitaker was next up and entered to a warm and welcoming applause, but despite managing to make up time with his stallion's quick movement across the ground, he went through the finish in 38.31 seconds.

Larocca was last to go and with pole position he knew what he had to do, but those before him werewere deceptively quick and he could only finished in 39.16 seconds.

The success for Beerbaum in Lausanne has seen him take over the overall lead in the Longines Global Champions Tour with 236 points. Then follows Sweden's Rolf-Göran Bengtsson with 221 points, before another Swede, Henrik von Eckermann is in third with 201 points, with Australia’s Tops-Alexander in fourth also with 201 points.

The next and penultimate stop of the 2014 LGCT is Vienna next weekend at this year's venue, the Magna Racino.

1. Ludger Beerbaum (Germany) 236 points

2. Rolf-Göran Bengtsson (Sweden) 221

3. Henrik von Eckermann (Sweden) 201

4. Edwina Tops-Alexander (Australia) 201

5. Bassem Hassan Mohammed (Qatar) 200

6. Scott Brash (Great Britain) 187

7. Kevin Staut (France) 176

8. Daniel Deusser (Germany) 160

9. Emanuele Gaudiano (Italy) 157

10. Maikel van der Vleuten (Netherlands) 154