La Baule (France) (AFP)
"It's a shitty day": the coach of the France show jumping team Thierry Pomel did not mince his words after the penultimate place won by the Blues in the Nations Cup, Friday in La Baule, a test event on the road to the Olympic Games this summer in Tokyo.
There was, however, a little country air blowing on the extremely green track of the François André stadium in the seaside resort.
From the public - while respecting the gauge - bright sunshine and a warm atmosphere.
But the technical difficulties of the course and the state of form of the horses got the better of the tricolor camp, made up of four riders and their mounts who pretend to the Olympic rendezvous.
Pénélope Leprévost (on Excalibur de la Tour Vidal), Olivier Robert (on Vivaldi des Meneaux), Mathieu Billot (on Quel Filou 13) and Nicolas Delmotte (on Urvoso du Roch) did no less than 22 points to finish ninth and penultimate of the prestigious team event, won by Switzerland (4 pts).
"Today was a day without. The first couple to leave (Leprévost / Excalibur) is reliable. So when we take eight points, we say to ourselves that behind we will have to tighten the bolts," commented Pomel, national coach.
"But nothing happened as we thought. With a bad day like today, there is much to think about, everything must not collapse, there is nothing dramatic, we will debrief. Of course that worries me but in the quality of our couples, it is not a disaster ", he insisted on relativizing.
- The sadness of Guerdat -
Pomel intended to take advantage of the French Nations Cup stop to review his best elements and help him determine which quartet will play in Tokyo, where France will defend their Olympic team title.
But from the start, the Habs took a bad turn.
Leprévost made two faults.
The others followed.
Over the two rounds of the competition, only Delmotte / Urvoso and Billot / Quel Filou were able to achieve a faultless, with a one point increase for Billot who exceeded the clock.
According to Pomel, these two riders almost have their tickets in their pockets for Tokyo.
The coach already had almost for granted the participation of Leprévost in the Olympics (July 23-August 8), she who was in the victorious campaign in Rio in 2016.
"The scores are heavy, Excalibur committed two faults per round but this horse is a great horse" insisted Pomel, specifying that Pénélope Leprévost would have to make "a choice" between Excalibur and her other Olympic caliber horse, Vancouver de Lanlore.
The team will be announced on July 1, around the same dates as Switzerland, which won with riders riding young horses lacking experience for a race of this intensity.
The Swiss edged Italy (7 pts) and Ireland (8 pts), despite the difficult emotional state of their leader, world No.2 Steve Guerdat.
# photo1
The 2012 Olympic champion, interviewed at a press conference by the specialist magazine GRANDPRIX, spoke of the sudden death of Bianca, the mare of great victories that he continued to mount in competition.
"I don't really want to talk about it today… Bianca left us this morning (Friday) and suffered a brain tumor. We couldn't do anything…".
© 2021 AFP