LGCT and GCL Championship Battle Set To Reach Fever Pitch At Penultimate Stage Of The Season

The thrilling final stages of the Longines Global Champions Tour and GCL 2021 season will be staged in the beautiful setting of Šamorín on the shores of the River Danube. The X-Bionic Sphere resort will host the 14th stage next week 15 – 17 October ahead of the big showdown at the season Finals of the Longines Global Champions Tour and GCL championships the week after.

The stakes will be high with a power-packed rider list set to create spectacular top sport in the high octane sprint to the 2021 championship climax. Ben Maher and Edwina Tops-Alexander could make history this year and be the first person to ever win the championship title three times. But with Maher not attending the first week of Samorin current joint leader Olivier Robert will be trying to make full use of the Olympic Champions’ absence.

One to watch will be Peder Fredricson as he currently only has 7 scores counting to the overall individual season championship while all the other riders have their full 8 scores. This means Fredricson will add to his total in Samorin while the other three will all have to improve on their worst score to gain points making it tenser.

Ben Maher, Peder Fredricson and Olivier Robert have all won two Longines Global Champions Tour Grand Prix this season picking up valuable points and earning their ticket to the LGCT Super Grand Prix while Edwina Tops-Alexander current third in the rankings has just two chances left to win her golden ticket.

GCL teams will be at full throttle with their last chance to secure a place in the top four of the overall season ranking to fast track to the semi-finals of the GCL Super Cup at the GC Prague Playoffs. Currently just 24 points separate the top three teams of Valkenswaard United, Shanghai Swans and Paris Panthers leaving it all to play for in the last two legs of the season.

• Valkenswaard United bring out their top pairing of Edwina Tops-Alexander and Peder Fredricson along with U25 rider Gilles Thomas
• Shanghai Swans bring out their strongest pairing of Christian Ahlmann and Max Kühner.
• Paris Panthers play a risky game bringing only two riders of Gregory Wathelet and Darragh Kenny

The remaining 13 teams have also brought strategic riders for the indoor event.

• Scandinavian Vikings bring out Jessica Springsteen for the first time this season
• London Knights currently battling for fourth place opt for the Phillipaerts twins and Emily Moffitt
• Berling Eagles also in contention for 4th place overall have plenty of horsepower with Ludger Beerbaum, Philipp Weiaupt and Laura Klapkae
• Monaco Aces are the last team in the final four race and they choose to field an all female team of Laura Kraut and Jeanne Sadran.

With Valkenswaard United guaranteed to be on the podium at the end of the season the race is on to see if they can hold onto top spot as the Championship battle now heads to Šamorín for a double header from 15 – 17 & 21 – 23 October where the Final stage of the season will also be held and the champion of champions will be crowned.

Visit www.gcglobalchampions.com

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.