Nicola and H&M Chilli Willi finished third in the 12th leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour in Chantilly. They completed the breathtaking jump-off only 0,59sec slower than winner Kenny Darragh (Balou du Reventon) and 0,05sec slower than Penelope Leprovost (Vancouver Lanlore). It’s Nicola’s second time in the top three this year. He started the season in Qatar with another third place. Now he moves toward a 25th place in the Longines ranking.
Only last year, Nicola and H&M Chilli Willy brought home the golden medal from Chantilly. “It was nice to come back here. It’s a beautiful show with a huge grass arena, which suits me well and where Chilli Willi feels at his best. We won here last year and finished third this year. I’m very satisfied with our performance.”, says Nicola.
The Longines Global Champions Tour competitions are usually pretty exciting, so was this one. The jump-off after the Grand Prix was the absolute highlight. “Chilli Willi was at his very best. He kept jumping faultless, from the qualifications to the jump-off. Six riders made it to the jump-off. We were second to start, right after Kenny Darragh, who rode an amazing round. We were a little more than 0,5seconds slower than the winner and just a fraction of a second slower than the second one. Chilli Willi felt really special and jumped incredible.”.
In two weeks, the next leg of the Longines Global Champions Tour kicks-off in Berlin, where Katanga van het Dingeshof will make her debute. She placed third in Lausanne a few weeks ago.
