Hamburg Giants Take the Win at GCL of Valkenswaard

Hamburg Giants towered over their rivals to win the GCL of Valkenswaard in a rollercoaster team thriller as showjumping fans across the globe were treated to a high adrenaline team competition with dramatic changes of fortune throughout the unpredictable class.

Presented by Stal Tops, it all went down to the wire as the Giants duo of Simon Delestre riding Hermes Ryan and Bart Bles riding Gin D blasted away the opposition with another stunning set of double clear rounds ahead of home team Valkenswaard United and New York Empire.

Speaking after their win, an ecstatic Bart said:

We’re really happy, the horse jumped fantastic today, and we had a good clear in the first round”.

Tactics were at play as the Hamburg Giants aimed to be the only team with a completely clean sheet, and Simon explained

The first one I tried to go not too fast but enough so we can keep the lead so it was good for us to know that if we jumped clear, that we could win as nobody else jumped a double clear round. Today was our day. My horse Hermes Ryan really produced an amazing job again, and I’m really happy to share it with Bart. He’s a good friend and I think together we are a strong team.”

Simon also spoke of the team’s appreciation for this exceptional competition in this difficult year, and said:

For sure it’s an amazing 5 star, we are happy to have a little for this year, which is a really difficult and strange year for us, so we are really happy to be here!

It was a welcome return to world-class show jumping with the world’s top-ranked show jumpers putting on masterful display across three days at Tops International Arena with all the action streamed live on GCTV.

The GCL team competition rounded out an incredible four weeks of show jumping at Tops International Arena, with young horses and young riders having the opportunity to compete on a world stage ahead of this weekend’s feature CSI5* GC Valkenswaard. Riders, teams and show jumping fans worldwide will now be looking ahead to an exciting Longines Global Champions Tour and GCL season in 2021.

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Suzanne Ashton

Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.