Great Britain pipped Spain by a slender one-fault margin in the nail-biting last qualifying leg of the Furusiyya FEI Nations Cup™ Jumping 2016 series at Gijón (ESP) this afternoon where Robert Bevis was the hero of the day when sealing victory with a last-to-go clear from Courtney Z. In a competition filled with surprises, it was The Netherlands that lined up third ahead of Switzerland in fourth, while the Canadian side that included Rio 2016 individual Olympic bronze medallist Eric Lamaze finished in fifth place.

Italy finished sixth, France seventh and Ireland lined up last of the eight teams that made the cut into the second round from a starting field of 12 nations.

Colourful
The colourful track set by Spanish course designer Avelino Rodriguez-Miravalles proved remarkably difficult in the first round of the competition when only four of the 47 horse-and-rider combinations managed to turn in a fault-free performance. But in one of those familiar contradictions that go hand-in-hand with the Nations Cup format, there was a dramatic improvement in round two which was gripping to the very final moment.

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