Aalborg: the winner is France

After the first round for the Central-Region in Mannheim, it once again took a jump-off to declare the winner of the Aalborg CSIO3* Longines EEF Series (LES). This time France, Japan and Denmark played the lead roles in a jump-off in which there were many clear rounds!
 
After the first two rounds, all three nations were boasting clean sheets, and they all jumped clear in the decisive third-round jump-off. The riders who returned to the arena for the jump off were Maelle Martin riding Bise des Bardellieres who stopped the clock at 36.41 seconds guaranteeing victory for France, with Japan finishing second with Eiken Sato and Saphyr des Lacs JRA (0/0/0; 36.69) and the host nation Denmark’s colours defended by Linnea Ericsson-Carey and Skorphults Baloutendro (0/0/0; 40.13).
 
Ten teams competed in the Longines EEF Series Aalborg 2022 Nations Cup presented by Radisson at the modern facilities of the Helgstrand Event: Belgium, Finland, France, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Sweden, Turkey and Denmark. Chef de Piste was Germany’s Peter Schumacher. Five of the ten teams jumped clear in the first round: Sweden, France, Denmark, Japan, Belgium and there were twelve clear rounds in the two first rounds.

The Polish team had the great performance during the Longines EEF Series in Uggerhalne! We finished today’s qualify in 6th place, 3rd in our group and we are gaining 80 points! 

French Chef d’Equipe Eduard Couperie
“I am extremely happy to be here with the team. The Nations Cup is always a very special class. This is the first time I have been here and it is a wonderful and very welcoming facility also for the horses, which is very important. The decision to field Maelle in the jump-off had been planned in advance and proved to have been the correct choice.”
 
Maelle Martin, France: “I was very lucky to be able to watch the other riders go first so I had a little more information about the course. I had nothing to lose so I could go for it and everything went well. The whole team was perfect. My mare jumped extremely well although it was all rather new for her; this was her first CSIO and she is showing constant improvement. I am really very happy with her.”
 
Andrea Schou, Denmark: “It was a wonderful day for the Danish team. Three of our horses jumped double clear rounds. This was an important experience for the horses and some of the horses that jumped here may perhaps go to the World Championships, so it was important to see them jump so well at this show. We were first to go in the jump-off and Linnea had a great round but without putting too much pressure on the other riders. So, we finished third, but it was however very important for planning the other legs in this series also thinking ahead to the WEC.”
 
Andreas Helgstrand, Helgstrand: “It has been a super exciting day. Just like last year, there were many clear rounds also in the jump-off. I hope to continue show jumping throughout the season. Let’s hope more and more people come to watch shows in this spectacular location.”
 
Chef de Piste Peter Schumacher: “It was a great Nations Cup with three teams in the jump-off, and I have to say three super teams on the podium. Everything went extremely well.”