This year, the competition was open to riders from the whole American continent. This year, the Americas managed a superb first round. This year, true showjumping legends made up the American team. And still… Europe yet again won the Riders Masters Cup, for the fifth time in a row!
On paper, the Americas had serious chances to win the fifth Riders Masters Cup, flagship competition of the Longines Masters of Paris launched in 2017 by EEM with Longines for Founding Partner. Robert Ridland’s troops really seemed in a position to turn the tables on Europe and at last clinch the class that has been eluding them since the beginning. On paper only. Led by Swedish chef d’équipe Henrik Ankarcrona, Europe mercilessly won on a final score of 125 for the Old Continent to 80 for the New World.
The Americas dominate the first round
He could feel confident, as for the very first time, Robert Ridland’s team stood up to their opponents in the first round. It must be noted that for the sake of sport and suspense, the rules made it possible to select riders from all the Americas. The chef d’équipe could thus pick Canadians and Brazilians. Good choice: tonight, Ridland’s team included as many as 3 Olympic champions with the USA’s Laura Kraut, Brazil’s Rodrigo Pessoa and Canada’s Eric Lamaze. Thanks to Kraut and Pessoa as well as Brazil’s Marlon Modolo Zanotelli, the Americas won three of their five duels. On Europe’s side, Olympic champions Kevin Staut (France) and Henrik von Eckermann (Sweden) both had four penalties. At that point, with a provisional score of 40 to Europe’s 35, Ridland’s five had reasons to hope for a win.