The worst-case scenario has become reality. Less than a month before the World Championships in Aachen, Belgium has already lost one of its biggest weapons. Ermitage Kalone, Gilles Thomas’s crack, will not make the trip. An announcement that falls like a guillotine blade and seriously reshuffles the cards for Peter Weinberg.

There was one detail that did not lie on Sunday in Riesenbeck. Qualified for the jump-off of the CSI5* Grand Prix of the Global Champions Tour, Gilles Thomas ultimately never returned for the second round. A few hours later, the mystery was solved. And the verdict was brutal.

“Unfortunately, I have to share that Ermitage and I are forced to withdraw from the World Championships in Aachen,” the Belgian rider wrote on his social media.

A few lines later, the assessment was just as clear.

“After the Grand Prix of Riesenbeck, Ermitage sustained an injury. Further examinations showed that it would not be responsible to take him to the Championships. His health and wellbeing will always come first.”

End of story. Or rather, end of a dream.

A hammer blow at the worst possible time

It is hard to imagine worse timing.

For several weeks, all the lights had gradually been turning green again. Injured at the end of the 2025 season, Ermitage Kalone had made a cautious return at the CHIO Aachen in May, without yet fully recovering his flamboyance.

At La Baule, however, the pair had clearly shifted up a gear. Sixth in a particularly tough five-star Grand Prix, Gilles Thomas had found his best partner again… and above all, his best feeling.

The signal was clear: Ermitage was coming back.

The plan seemed to be unfolding perfectly.

Too perfectly, perhaps.

“I preferred to wait a little longer”

At La Baule, a Rolex Series leg, Gilles Thomas made no secret of the fact that his entire season had been built around one single goal: the World Championships.

« At the end of last year, Ermitage picked up a small injury. I really took my time, because the main goal this year is the World Championships. ” he told us.

The rider from Mechelen had deliberately refused to rush the process.

« I told myself it was better to wait a little longer so that he would be really good. If you start again too early, it is not necessarily ideal for keeping that condition until the end of the summer. »

A strategy that seemed to be paying off.

« “I am happy that Ermitage is back in very good form. I hope he can be in the best possible condition in a few weeks, at the Championship.” »

A few weeks later, the script has brutally flipped.

Peter Weinberg loses a key piece

For Peter Weinberg, selector of the Red Musketeers, the headache has just taken on a whole new dimension.

Because Ermitage Kalone was not just any horse.

He was probably the horse around which Belgium’s entire ambition could be built. European team champion in 2025, individual bronze medallist with Gilles Thomas, the pair ranked among the world references and were among the natural favourites to play a leading role in Aachen.

His absence now forces the Belgian selector to rewrite his plans, while the international competition will not be handing out any gifts.

Belgium still has rare depth in its squad, with several combinations capable of performing at the highest level. But replacing a horse of this calibre is never a simple piece of arithmetic. Cracks do not just grow back in the next stable.

A dream slips away

The disappointment is immense for Gilles Thomas.

Just a few weeks ago, the world number six was explaining, with stars in his eyes, what a World Championship held in Aachen meant to him. He even remembered watching, as a child, Jos Lansink and Cumano’s triumph in 2006 in that mythical stadium.

In his message, Gilles Thomas did not forget those who will continue the adventure.

“The disappointment is immense. We had made this championship one of our biggest goals. (…) Wishing Team Belgium the very best of luck.”

Belgium will therefore have to head to Aachen without one of its most serious assets.

The Worlds have not even begun.

And yet, the Red Musketeers have already taken their first big refusal.