Star-Studded Lineup for Jumping International Bordeaux

The 2025 edition of the Jumping International de Bordeaux promises to be another great sporting event, with a magical line-up of Olympic medallists and other champions. Heading the line-up will be world number two Steve Guerdat, Olympic runner-up in Versailles and two-time winner of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup in Bordeaux, including last year’s victory. But he will not be alone. Taking part in the Devoucoux Indoor Derby, Michael Jung, the four-time German Olympic gold medallist, will also be participating in the jumping classes. Not forgetting the six best drivers of the winter and finalists of the FEI Driving World Cup in Bordeaux. In short, an exceptional line-up of champions honouring the exceptional history of France’s oldest indoor showjumping competition!

Steve Guerdat’s compatriot is also exceptional: invited at the last minute after the withdrawal of Irish rider Connor Swail, Martin Fuchs won the Top 10 in Geneva last December with flying colours to climb back to fifth in the world rankings. The 2018 World runner-up and 2019 European Champion, winner of the 2022 Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ in Leipzig, has an 8% win rate in international competitions since 2010. Impressive! The young Édouard Schmitz, runner-up in the 2023 Bordeaux Jumping World Cup, completes this very solid Swiss line-up.

Final 2025: Four French in the Running

“Bordeaux comes at a key moment, at the end of the qualifying phase, and depending on the year, this phase is approached differently according of our provisional ranking,” recalls Kevin Staut. For him, this is not a problem: at the top of the provisional standings with 70 points, his qualification is already secured: “Going to Bordeaux with a qualification in your pocket, as will be the case this year, is a rather pleasant way of experiencing the competition in a different way: you can take advantage of each class, give your all for the World Cup stage, but also for the Grand Prix on Sunday.” Team bronze medallist in Versailles, Julien Épaillard is in the same situation with 43 points and currently in seventh place.

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Also team bronze medallist in Versailles alongside Julien Épaillard and Simon Delestre, Olivier Perreau will also be on the start line. The Bordeaux crowd will also be able to support their darlings, local Olivier Robert, as well as Rio Olympic champions Roger-Yves Bost (out of the World Cup) and Philippe Rozier. Julien Anquetin, 5th in Lyon and currently in 19th place with 29 points, is still in the running for the final, although he will have to get a lot of points in Bordeaux if he wants to ensure his qualification.

Other Foreign Champions

Winner of the Bordeaux World Cup in 2010 and 2014 (and of the Sunday Grand Prix three times), German legend Marcus Ehning will not miss the Bordeaux stage, which suits him particularly well. He will be leading a German team that includes Sophie Hinners, a member of the famous Iron Dames, who won her first World Cup Grand Prix in Verona in November, and 2005 European Champion Marco Kutscher, who is returning to the top level.

In the absence of Henrik von Eckermann, who has chosen to spend the winter in Florida, Sweden will be represented by Rio Olympic runner-up and Tokyo Olympic team champion ‒ and graphic artist in his spare time ‒ Peder Fredricsson, who was the flag-bearer for the Swedish team at the Paris 2024 opening ceremony alongside skier Josefin Olsson. In 2022, he published his autobiography Six Feet Above: Jumping to the top.

But this discipline also boasts other treasures, with Belgium’s Pieter Devos, former winner of the World Cup stage in Bordeaux (2018), team bronze medallist at the Tokyo Olympics (2021) and European team champion in 2019, and his compatriot Gregory Wathelet, who was also on the podium in Tokyo. Also worthy of mention are the world number eight, the Austrian “financier” Max Kühner, team bronze medallist at the last European Championships, and the young Norwegian Victoria Gulliksen, Olympic finalist in Versailles. Dutch rider Harrie Smolders, winner of the recent Grand Prix de Genève, will also be competing.

Devoucoux Indoor Derby

Olympic medallists from Versailles will also be competing in the Devoucoux Indoor Derby along with the team eventing silver medallist and four-time Bordeaux winner, Karim Laghouag, and above all the phenomenal four-time Olympic champion and Bordeaux regular, the master Michael Jung who will also be competing in the jumping classes.

Last year, however, Jung had a new challenger: local rider Benjamin Massie, who beat the German’s time by 4 seconds. Massie is carefully preparing Cupidon du Cardonne for this class. “I’m coming back this year with the same horse, which I’m only riding on this occasion – otherwise he competes in 1.40m showjumping with his owner Margaux Crouail – to try and confirm this performance and make sure it wasn’t a one-off…”

Twelve other French international riders will also be competing, along with three foreigners: Spanish rider Albert Hermoso, Thai Olympian Korntawat Samran and Dutchman Jordy Wilken.

Driving World Cup: Another Chardon-Exell Duel?

We now know the finalists for the 23rd FEI Driving World Cup. They are, unsurprisingly, Australia’s Boyd Exell, Belgium’s Dries Degrieck, the Dutch father and son duo Chardon Ijsbrand and Bram Chardon, second-placed Belgian Kos de Ronde and the friendly Swiss mechanic Jérôme Voutaz. This will be the 11th final in Bordeaux and since 2013 there has been a never-ending battle between the Australians and the Dutch. Will this year be different?

Perhaps with Dries Degrieck, who won in Lyon and Stockholm… but who has yet to beat either Boyd Exell or Bram Chardon in head-to-head competition. Frenchman Benjamin Aillaud, ranked 23rd in the world, will be a guest at this party, which is always popular with the Bordeaux public.

Once again, the champions of the three disciplines present in Bordeaux are demonstrating the importance they attach to this event, which promises four great days and evenings of competition with high stakes such as qualification for the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup Final in Basel in April or the title of the FEI Driving World Cup™ Final by Laiterie de Montaigu.

Jumping World Cup entries HERE.

Indoor Derby entries HERE.

Driving World Cup entries HERE.