Belgium win the opening leg of the FEI Eventing Nations Cup™

It was a great start to the season for the Belgians who claimed the first leg of the FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ held in Montelibretti (ITA). With consistent three phase performances, they finished on a score of 93.7 penalties. The home nation Italy were in second on 152.3 whilst Switzerland finished third on 192.1.

Three of the four Belgian riders finished inside the top ten which gave them a healthy lead with almost a 60 point margin over Italy. Jarno Verwimp put in an exemplary display in all three phases with her Belgian bred mare Mahalia, and a double clear with just 1.2 cross-country time penalties left the athlete on a final score of 26.9, good enough for a second position in the individual ranking, just a whisker behind Austrian athlete Lea Siegl, who finished on 24.9 for Austria. Belgian Team mate Lara De Liedekerke Meier was fourth on Ducati D’Arville, whilst eventing stalwart Karin Donckers finished eight on Fletcha Van’t Verahof.

Riders and nations have just one season left to qualify for the Paris Olympics held next year and the Belgians are yet to qualify. Whilst they will have a chance at the European Championships held in Le Pin au Haras (FRA) later this year.

The nations qualified for Paris so far are: host nation France, Great Britain, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA.

Full results HERE