CANNES YET AGAIN ROLLS THE RED CARPET!
The Hesperides stadium is getting ready to enjoy a three day gala from the 2nd to the 4th of June, with the gathering of the World's best show-jumpers for the 39th Jumping International of Cannes, a leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour contended by the greatest. The promise of a true sporting festival with the presence of leading French riders, multiple Olympic champions and half of the World's top 15!
Niels Bruynseels & Gancia de Muze, winners in 2019 ©Sportfot
Some stars can hide others! Less than a week after the curtains came down on its’ Film Festival, Cannes will once again roll out its red carpet to welcome this time the biggest names in show-jumping. The seventh of the fifteen stages that make up the Longines Global Champions Tour, the Jumping International de Cannes will once again see an exceptional line-up. Some of the World's best riders will be at the Hesperides stadium for this historic event, one of the six rendezvous on Jan Tops circuits’ calendar since its creation in 2006. On Saturday June the 4th, at 9.15 pm, the Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix of Cannes will offer a fabulous grand finale to the three days of competition.
Coming to defend his title acquired in 2019 with Gancia de Muze will be Belgium’s Niels Bruynseels, he will have his work cut out in order to retain his crown. Third in the World rankings, Sweden's Henrik von Eckermann, Olympic team gold medallist in Tokyo, will be one of the main contenders, as will the reigning individual Olympic champion, Great Britain's Ben Maher (n°4) and his compatriot Scott Brash (n°11), already a winner twice at Cannes (2014 and 2016) and record holder of the most victories on the Global with 12 wins since 2006, and not forgetting Dutchman Harrie Smolders (n°7), Germany’s Daniel Deusser (n°10), or Austria’s Max Kuehner (n°15) to name just a few. Christian Ahlmann, the provisional leader on the Longines Global Champions Tour leader board, is in great form as proven by his victory last Saturday at the Berlin leg of the Global Champions Tour and will certainly be aiming for a repeat here. Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander who is always very much at ease on the Riviera and who has already two wins to her name, in 2010 and 2011 with Itot du Château, should be watched closely. The American delegation will be counting on multi-medalist Laura Kraut, Jessica Springsteen and on the young Spencer Smith, third at the Saint-Tropez stage. In addition to Deusser, the Germans, who have been in the spotlight since the beginning of the season with four wins out of the first six legs of the circuit, will also be able to count on Christian Kukuk.
Epaillard, Staut, Delestre, Bost, Robert, France’s main assets
Amongst the French clan, there will also be many who will wish to emulate Roger-Yves Bost, winner in 2009 with Idéal de la Loge, and Pénélope Leprévost, on the top step of the podium in 2015, with Ratina d'la Rousserie. Julien Epaillard (n°12), Kevin Staut (n°17) and Simon Delestre (n°22), France’s top ranked riders, will be in Cannes. “Bosty”, who rode a double clear round last weekend at the Nations Cup in Rome, will accompany them as will Jeanne Sadran, Oliver Robert, Julien Anquetin, François-Xavier Boudant and Aurélien Leroy.
The Global Champions League, a two-rider team competition held over two rounds (Thursday 2nd of June at 8.30pm and Saturday 4th of June at 5.45pm), is another highlight of the event. Currently in the lead following the first six rounds, the Berlin Eagles will be counting on Kukuk, Switzerland’s Jane Richard and Ireland's Eoin McMahon. Winners in Miami and Madrid, they will have to be wary of the Stockholm Hearts (the Belgian twins Olivier and Nicola Philippaerts or Great Britain’s Lily Attwood), the Hamburg Giants (Delestre but also the Dutch riders Bart Bles and Jur Vrieling) and the Madrid in Motion team (the Dutch rider Maikel and his father Eric van der Vleuten, winners in 2019 on the “Croisette”, and the Swedish rider Angelica Augutsson), who could well overtake them if they perform well in Cannes.
As is customary at the Jumping International of Cannes, the party will also be open to less experienced riders and amateurs, with classes taking place each day from 11am (free entry) in the CSI 1*.
More information :
Full riders list: click here
