Stunning new
international destinations join the
Longines Global Champions Tour in
2015 marking the 10th anniversary of
the world’s premier show jumping
series.
The
championship circuit makes a
strategic expansion to the American
continent with the first event of
season being launched in Miami Beach
in April. For the first time ever,
Olympic-level equestrian sport will
take place on the golden sands of
Miami Beach as one of the most
vibrant cities in the world
celebrates its Centennial.
It can also be announced that Rome
will join the stellar line up of
destinations on the Longines Global
Champions Tour with a landmark event
in September. The Eternal City, with
a sporting heritage stretching back
over two millenia, will provide a
thrilling stage as the championship
battle heads towards its climax.
2015 will see 15 events across three
continents as the FEI-approved
Longines Global Champions Tour
circuit reaches out to more
equestrian fans around the world.
Events consistently attract more
Olympic, World and Continental
Champions than any other show
jumping series. The Tour offers over
€10million (US$11.8million) in prize
money across the season, with a
guaranteed €1million (US$1.2million)
bonus going to the top 18 riders in
the overall championship.
Jan Tops, Founder and President of
Longines Global Champions Tour,
said: “2015 is set to be a landmark
year for our series as we expand to
the spectacular destinations of
Miami Beach and Rome bringing a new
continent and a new capital city
into our calendar. I am proud to be
celebrating our 10th anniversary in
an environment of continued growth
for show jumping worldwide as our
events become a fantastic sporting
and social fixture around the
world.”
The 2015
season will be packed with some of
the brightest stars in the sport,
including World Number One and
reigning two-time Longines GCT
Champion Scott Brash (GBR),
four-time Olympic Gold medalist
Ludger Beerbaum (GER), World and
Olympic medalists Beezie Madden
(USA) and Gerco Schröder (NED),
former European Champion Rolf-Göran
Bengtsson (SWE), two-time LGCT
Champion Edwina Tops-Alexander (AUS)
and Olympic Gold medalists McLain
Ward (USA) and Marcus Ehning (GER).
Combining world-class equestrian
sport with a glamorous social
occasion, Longines Global Champions
Tour events attract fans from all
over the globe and high profile
figures from the worlds of business,
entertainment, sport and culture.
Taking place in major cities and
spectacular venues in Europe, Asia
and America, the series is televised
live on Eurosport and BeIN Sports
all season, as well as on national
TV networks and via GCT’s own live
streaming channel.
THE 2015 CALENDAR
Miami Beach is the
spectacular launch pad for the 10th
anniversary season from the 2-4
April. Top equestrian sport joins
the calendar of art, fashion and
music events that make Miami Beach
one of the world’s most exciting
destinations today.
The diamond city of Antwerp
welcomes the best riders in the
world for the second consecutive
year from 23-26 April. Antwerp is
renowned for its diamond trade, as a
major global port and as a rising
fashion city. The Tour then moves on
to the vibrant Spanish capital city
of Madrid and the
sophisticated Club de Campo Villa de
Madrid from 1-3 May.
Shanghai, China, a new
addition to the Tour in 2014, will
host the 4th round of the 2015
Championship from 8-10 May. The
highest level of show jumping will
unfold at the China Pavilion in
Shanghai’s World Expo Park where
riders will do battle in a dramatic
floodlit outdoor arena.
Hamburg, Germany, where the
youngest winner of the 2014 season
Katrin Eckermann took glory in her
home country, will host from the
14-17 May, before we head to the
stunning French Riviera and
Cannes from the 11-13 June - a
popular destination for the chic
equestrian crowd. Show jumping’s
‘Formula One’ will then pit-stop in
glamorous Monaco from 25-27
June for the 7th round of the season
at the iconic Port Hercule.
Paris, one of the world’s
most iconic capital cities, will
once again be the extraordinary
midway stage of the series from 3-5
July. Five-star show jumping returns
to the foot of the world-famous
Eiffel Tower in the beautiful
surroundings of the Champ de Mars
close to the banks of the River
Seine.
With the
race for the Championship now at
full tilt, the Tour moves to the
beautiful Portuguese Riviera of
Cascais, Estoril from
9-11 July for the 9th round. Chic
and sophisticated Chantilly,
from 17-19 July, offers spectacular
views of the legendary Chateau and
delivers a great weekend of top
equestrian sport for the 10th round
of the season.
From 23-25 July, London will
be centre stage. Will we see another
home win for the British on home
turf in 2015? The stunning new
development at Valkenswaard,
home of the Tour, will be an
impressive stage for the 10th
anniversary year from 13-16 August.
The Eternal City will host the elite
of the world of show jumping in a
stunning new event for 2015. Rome,
Italy, from the 11-13 September,
offers a fantastic stage for the
13th round of the season with its
magnificent architecture and ancient
monuments.
Historic Vienna, Austria
(17-20 September), overlooked by the
famous Rathaus, is sure to be
hotly-contested as riders jostle for
ranking points before the final leg.
The state-of-the-art Al Shaqab in
Qatar’s capital, Doha, will
for the third year running host the
Championship finale. From 12-14
November this grand stage, part of
the renowned Qatar Foundation, will
witness the run up to an explosive
finale for 2015.
Editor’s Note: The Longines Global
Champions Tour was founded in 2006
by Dutch Olympic Team Gold medallist
Jan Tops. The series attracts the
top ranked riders in the world who
compete for ranking points and the
highest prize money in the sport.
World-class sport in breathtaking
locations has become the hallmark of
the Longines Global Champions Tour
experience. All of the 2015 season’s
exciting Grand Prix action will be
broadcast on Eurosport and can be
viewed live via GCT TV at
globalchampionstour.com.