Belgium invincible in Sopot

One month after their second place in the Nations Cup of La Baule, Belgium’s riders won the leg in Sopot. Team leader of the day, Pieter Devos signed three clear rounds with the amazing Apart. In Poland, the world’s number five was under a lot of pressure as he was picked for the jump-off against Paul O’Shea. First to go on Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu, the Irish was fast but ended his jump-off with one fence down. Pieter Devos knew then that he only had to focus on a clear round and less on the timer. His compatriot Gundrun Patteet managed to realize two clear rounds with Valdelamadre Clooney and Oleksandr Onyshchenko, who competed under the saddle of Pénélope Leprevost for few months last year. For Niels Bruynseels and Delux van’t & L, fifth of the World Cup Final in April in Goteborg, only one fence down during the first round tarnished his performance. Finally, four points in each round for Yves Vanderhasselt who was competing his fourth Nations Cup of that level in his career.

Second, Ireland’s riders can be really satisfied by their week-end. Leading by Rodrigo Pessoa, the team was composed by Paul O’Shea on Skara Glen’s Machu Picchu, Shane Sweetnam on Alejandro, Peter Moloney on Chianti’s Champion and Bertram Allen on Harley vd Bisschop, the former star of Nicola Philippaerts. After a first round with four points, they did not have to go in the second round. Third, France’s performance is still great even if Simon Delestre had to retired after an injury was spotted on Ucello de Will. For now, nobody knows how serious the injury is. The rest of the team was composed by Olivier Robert on Tempo de Paban, Alexis Deroubaix on Timon d’Aure and Roger-Yves Bost on Sangria du Coty. For this last mare, it was the first team competition she made since the CSIO5* of Rome where she was injured.

All results here: