Maikel van der Vleuten guiding Arera C over a hurdle on his way to win the CSI5* 1.45m competition at Al Shaqab Arena, yesterday.
Doha: Dutch rider Maikel van der Vleuten yesterday grabbed the opening day’s honours by guiding Arera C to slick win in the CSI5* 1.45m competition at Al Shaqab Arena.
The 31-year-old Dutchman, a 2012 London Olympic Team Silver medallist, last night saw Arera C clock a time of 24.40 seconds on way to picking up the top prize of €6,250 to launch the new Longines Global Champions Tour (LGTC) season opener on a winning note.
Van der Vleuten and Arera C, who were drawn in the latter half of the 50 riders in the season’s first race, showed incredible speed to seal his win by over half a second.
Frenchman Simon Delestre, astride Filou Carlo Zimequest, grabbed the second spot in a time of 24.98 seconds. Delestre won €5,000.
Swedish rider Henrik von Eckermann made it to the podium after guiding Que Bueno to the third spot out of 49 riders in the season’s first competition. Que Bueno clocked 25.01 seconds as Von Eckermann got €3,750.
French rider Julien Epaillard (Usual Suspect d’Auge, 25.20 seconds, €2,500) and Brazil’s Marlon Módolo Zanotelli (J-Figyelem, 25.29 seconds, €1,750) completed the top five entries in their run against the clock. Epaillard exhibited good form with Usual Suspect d’Auge to nail the fourth spot.
Australia’s Edwina Tops-Alexander, astride Veronese Teamjoy, finished in 12th spot (27.71 seconds) while Great Britain’s Scott Brash (Hello Jefferson, 35.08 seconds) ended up in the 27th place.
Qatar’s Bassem Hassan Mohammed (Argelith Squid, 25.84 seconds) was at rank 31.
