The last time that the Swiss squad won the Mercedes-Benz Nations’ Cup in Aachen was in the year 2002 and the final rider of the team back then was Markus Fuchs with Tinka’s Boy. Now, 21 years later it was his nephew Martin Fuchs with Commissar Pezi, who sealed the victory for the Swiss team on a final score of four faults, ahead of the British team and the Belgians, both of whom finished on eight faults after both rounds. However, since the collective time from round two decides in the case of a tie, the representatives of this year’s CHIO partner country came second, because they were slightly faster than the Belgians.
The Swiss chef d’équipe, Michel Sorg, said on behalf of his team: “It is a dream come true winning the Nations’ Cup here in Aachen. It is the dream of all fans of this sport.” I have had so many chances to come here, but standing here today in the middle of the arena with the winning team was fantastic and I still haven’t really taken it in yet.” Of course, he had thought about the starting order carefully, he chose Steve Guerdat with Venard de Cerisy as the first to go because he is an “experienced, strong rider”, who fulfilled all the expectations set in him by jumping double clear.
The next to go was the also extremely experienced Niklaus Schurtenberger with his Holstein-bred mare, C-Steffra. They got off to a promising start by only knocking one pole in the first round. However, round two didn’t go well for the pair at all: 23 faults.