Team France jumped into the lead in the first round of the team final at the FEI European Jumping Championships 2015 in Aachen, Germany this afternoon. On a day when clear rounds were hard to get, overnight individual leader Penelope Leprevost produced yet another foot-perfect performance when first in for the French side. And when team-mates Simon Delestre and Kevin Staut did likewise, her side stood firm on the score they carried through from yesterday’s opening speed competition to move up from second spot to the top of the leaderboard.

The Dutch demonstrated exactly why they are the reigning world champions when also posting three fault-free runs to move up from overnight fifth to silver medal spot. And now that they are in a position of strength they look really threatening. Meanwhile the first-day leaders from Germany slipped to third, their decline halted however by two brilliant runs from Ludger Beerbaum and Daniel Deusser.

With only the top ten teams eligible for tomorrow’s second round medal-decider, today’s competition was a fierce one, and the British dropped one place to fourth ahead of Ukraine in fifth spot. The Swiss really rose to the occasion, rocketing up from 13th to sixth when they were the only others to add nothing to their scoreline. Spain, Denmark, Ireland and Sweden have also made the cut.

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