Longines Global Champions Tour takes off in Madrid this weekend

63 riders and 123 horses from 22 nations will be competing at the 5*  level in the grass arena of the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, including in Saturday’s Grand Prix. Among them are six riders from Great Britain, including Scott Brash, who leads the overall standings on the Tour after winning in Mexico and picking up points in the United States and China. Second-place Australian Edwina Tops-Alexander is also in Spain after claiming victory in Florida, as are Shanghai winner Gregory Wathelet of Belgium and Germany’s Daniel Deusser, the latter tied with Tops-Alexander in the overall race.

As Grand Prix winners on the Tour, Brash, Tops-Alexander and Wathelet have already secured a spot in the Super Grand Prix in Prague in December. But all will be focused on the task at hand, as well as the overall series title, which Brash and Tops-Alexander have both won in the past.

The challenge for them to get back on the podium at Campo Villa will be great, however, given the rest of the star-studded field present in the Spanish capital. Italy’s Lorenzo de Luca, Canada’s Eric Lamaze, the United States’ Laura Kraut, Ireland’s Bertram Allen, Belgium’s Niels Bruynseels and the home nation’s Sergio Alvarez Moya are just some of the well-known names who will be looking to make their mark in Spain.

Many of those riders will also be taking part in the team-based Global Champions League, which brings together horses and riders from different nations in this parallel series to the Tour. Currently leading the League are the London Knights (Ben Maher, Martin Fuchs, Olivier Philippaerts, Nicola Philippaerts and Emily Moffitt) in a tie with Valkenswaard United (Marcus Ehning, Bertram Allen, Alberto Zorzi, Jur Vrieling and Maurice Tebbel), followed by the Prague Lions (Niels Bruynseels, Holger Wulschner, Ales Opatmy, Gerco Schroder, Anna Kellnerova).

Next stop for the Tour and League will be Hamburg, Germany from May 10–12. For more on the historic city of Madrid, see here.