31 October 2021

Lyon: Boyd Exell wins exciting final

The first World Cup cometition of this season will go down in the books as a wonderful start to the season with very good driving and a super exciting ending. The highest honor went to Boyd Exell, who took maximum amount of World Cup points.

After Dries Degrieck won the first game yesterday, he was the last starter today and was considered the man to beat. After Boyd Exell had completed the first round at lightning speed, Dries also hit the gas, but that cost two balls. His time was only a fraction slower than that of the Australian, who dropped one ball. Koos de Ronde remained clear in the first round. His finishing time was exactly the same as Boyd Exell’s final result including his dropped ball. A unique situation: Koos and Boyd were tied for first place after the first round with 150.08. Something never happened before. Now, of course, the question was who would be the last to start in the second round. “We already said to each other let’s toss about it,” Boyd laughs. But the jury decided that Koos, because he was clear, could start last.

Boyd Exell won with a super fast and clear winning round
Photo: Krisztina Horváth

Exciting climax

First it was Dries Degrieck’s turn, who kept his compatriot Glenn Geerts out of the winning round by two seconds. So it went back to the same three as yesterday. This time Dries left everything behind, but he had a very small hitch in hurdle 8 which cost him a fraction of time. He crossed the finish line in 147.62 (slightly slower than his first time).

Flinke fout

Het was aan laatste starter Koos de Ronde om het resultaat van Boyd te verbeteren. “Het begin van mijn parcours was heel snel, want ik zat op Boyds tijd. Ik moest risico nemen, want hij was heel snel. Ja en toen werd een kleine vergissing een grote fout…” In hindernis acht kwamen de voorpaarden ieder aan de kant van een hekje in de hindernis. De snelheid was zo hoog dat het span door denderde en het hele hinderniselement ging ondersteboven. Dat leverde niet alleen vertraging op, maar ook een boel strafseconden, waardoor Koos als derde eindigde. “Dat was jammer, maar het hoort bij onze sport,” evalueert hij. “Ik ben uiteindelijk blij met deze wedstrijd. Ik rijd graag de eerste wedstrijd van het seizoen, zodat ik meteen weet waar ik sta. Na 1 jaar niets, hadden we hier een wedstrijd waar het niveau gelijk heel goed was.”

Dries Degrieck made an excellent debut in his first World Cup season
Photo: Krisztina Horváth

Excellent debut

The victory went to Boyd Exell and Dries Degrieck was second. “It’s my first real World Cup season,” says Dries. “I’m trying my best; if it happens, it happens. My horses did very well. One of my hind horses is 6 years old and ran his first competition here. I think it’s fantastic to be second behind Boyd and ahead of Koos.”

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Click here for the results

World Cup standings after 1 competition

Boyd Exell (AUS) 10 points

Dries Degrieck (BEL) 7 points

Koos de Ronde (NED) 5 points

Glenn Geerts (BEL) 3 points

Mareike Harm (GER) 2 points