Only two Dutch riders in the Big Tour this year because Aat Van Essen’s horse hurt himself in the stables so the third Dutch rider had to go home.
Last year Adelinde Cornelissen won the Grand Prix, now it was her fellow countryman Edward Gal who was the best on Sisther de Jeu with 71,745 %. Hans Peter Minderhoud on Exquis Nadine was second with 68,255 %.
World Champion Edward Gal explains : “Mechelen is a difficult arena to ride in. It’s the first time that I ride her here, last it wouldn’t have been possible, but now I have much better control. I’ll just go for it tomorrow.”
Best Belgian rider was Jeroen Devroe on Apollo van het Vijverhof with 67,787 % on fourth place. “If this competition wouldn’t have been Mechelen I wouldn’t have started. I didn”t have a great feeling the last few weeks. When I came out of the class I was relieved. I have the feeling that Apollo knows when something important is happening. I was really very happy with out performance today.” The best 15 riders are riding the Reem Acra World Cup Free Style tomorrow.