Geneva, Switzerland – December 22, 2022 – The Nations Cup year 2022 was closed in Vilamoura (POR). 765 clear rounds were shown at 33 different tournaments around the globe. In the exclusive ranking of the Swiss equestrian magazine PferdeWoche, the French rider Kevin Staut (FRA) is the Mr. Nations’ Cup Rider of 2022 with twelve clear rounds. In the country statistics, Belgium wins with 83 clear rounds ahead of Ireland (75) and France (67).
Almost 800 times a rider was able to enjoy a clear round in a Nations’ Cup this year. The flawless rounds were counted at 33 competitions – last year there were only 22 due to the Corona pandemic.
This year, one rider stood out and can be happy about the title !Mr. Nations’ Cup!. The French rider Kevin Staut succeeds Jérôme Guery (BEL) and André Thieme (GER), who won together in 2021 with seven clear rounds each, with a total of twelve clear rounds – all of them at five-star tournaments. The 42-year-old, who has been running his own stable in Pennedepie in the Normandy since 2019, excelled in nine different Nations Cups plus the World Championships in Herning (DEN).
He was only riding two horses that showed exactly the same number of flawless rounds, namely six of them. With the 13-year-old French gelding Scuderia 1918 Viking d’La Rousserie there was a double clear at the CSIO5* in Rotterdam (NED). With the also 13-year-old French mare Visconti du Telman Staut was able to stay clear in both rounds at the Piazza di Siena in Rome (ITA).
“Even if it is not an ‘official’ title – I’m still very happy. We often get ‘presents’, but to be honest, I don’t care so much about them. But this title means a lot to me, it’s a great idea, Staut said during the CHI in Geneva. «I am a rider who loves to compete in these team competitions. For me the Nations Cup is the best product we have in the whole equestrian sport.”
Belgium’s Koen Vereecke (BEL) took the second place behind the outstanding winner with ten flawless rounds. The Dutch rider Harrie Smolders (NED) and Staut’s compatriot Simon Delestre (FRA) came third ex-aequo with nine clear rounds. In 2022, a total of 324 riders showed a total of 765 clear rounds in the 33 Nations Cups. This results in an average of around 23 clear rounds per tournament. In 2021, there was exactly the same number of 506 clear rounds at 22 tournaments.
If one takes the efficiency per rider, Canada wins with an average score of 3,285 (23 clear rounds from seven riders) ahead of Ireland with 3,260 (75/23), Portugal 3,250 (13/4), Switzerland 3,200 (48/15) and Belgium 2,964 (83/28).
Source: Press Release from PferdeWoche
Photo: © Hippo Foto Media – Dirk Caremans
Categories: Awards, English, Jumper News France
