Barely enough time to put the medals away. Three days after the final of the World Championships in Aachen, a good part of the showjumping planet is already back on the road. Destination: Wolvertem and the Brussels Stephex Masters, from 26 to 30 August. Steve Guerdat arrives with gold around his neck, Thibeau Spits with two silver medals, and Germany with the feeling that it has just marched across Europe. In short, for a quiet week back, try again.
Aachen–Brussels, without passing through the holiday box
In some sports, after a World Championship, you go home. You put the medal on the mantelpiece, open a bottle and let the adrenaline gently come down.
In showjumping, apparently, they prefer to get back in the truck.
Just a few days after the big showdown in Aachen, ten of the 25 riders who contested the individual World Championship final are announced in the CSI5* at the Brussels Stephex Masters. And not exactly the ones who had gone sightseeing in Germany, even if they were rare, to be fair: five members of Aachen’s World Top 10 are heading to Wolvertem.
Steve Guerdat, Thibeau Spits, Piergiorgio Bucci, Daniel Deusser and Nina Mallevaey will all be part of the cast.
In other words, the Belgian paddock is recovering a good part of the main actors from the German film. Still with a little champagne in the veins and, for some, a few scores to settle.
Guerdat arrives with a crown
Obviously, all eyes will turn to Steve Guerdat. Steve Guerdat.
On Sunday in Aachen, the Swiss rider and Dynamix de Belheme claimed the world title at the end of a perfect final. Guerdat was the only rider in the final four who already had an individual world medal, the bronze he won in Tryon in 2018. Gold was missing. That has now been sorted.
And now the new world champion lands almost immediately in Brussels.
The script is all the tastier because Guerdat already knows the grass of Wolvertem very well. In 2024, with Dynamix, he finished second in the Rolex Grand Prix presented by Audi. Very close to the big prize.
Two years later, he returns with a world title in his luggage.
Inevitably, that slightly changes the paddock introduction.
One question remains: after reaching the absolute summit in Aachen, can you restart the machine four days later as if nothing had happened? That is exactly what makes Guerdat’s presence so interesting.
Thibeau Spits Comes Home as a Boss
Then there’s Thibeau Spits.
For the Belgian public, his entrance into the arena is likely to carry a little extra flavour.
At 25, the Belgian has just produced a week that is rather difficult to sum up without using superlatives. First, team world silver with Nicola Philippaerts, Pieter Devos and Abdel Saïd. Then individual silver with Impress-K van’t Kattenheye Z, behind Guerdat.
Two world medals in a matter of days.
Not bad as a calling card before coming home.
Especially as Wolvertem is not exactly unknown territory for him. Spits has been riding there for years. The kid the Stephex Masters crowd has watched grow up now returns with a different status.
That of a world vice-champion.
So yes, there will probably be noise when he enters the big grass arena. Even if Spits will not be present this time with his top horses, who are getting a little rest. Nobody could blame the Belgian for doing a little too much.
The Germans haven’t put their weapons away either
The other major delegation to watch will obviously be wearing black, red and yellow. But horizontally.
Germany has just claimed the team world title at home, and two members of that world champion team, Daniel Deusser and Richard Vogell, are continuing straight on to Brussels.
For Deusser, Wolvertem almost looks like a second home.
The German has collected successes there: two CSI5* wins in 2019 with Killer Queen VDM and Calisto Blue, another victory with Killer Queen in 2021, then two more five-star wins in 2024 with Otello de Guldenboom and Scuderia 1918 Tobago Z.
Yet one line is still missing.
The biggest one.
The Rolex Grand Prix.
In 2021, Deusser fell just 0.10 seconds short of Jessica Springsteen. An eternity when you tell the story four years later, a blink of an eye when you look at the clock.
With a freshly collected team world title from Aachen, the timing would be rather well chosen to fill that gap.
Almost all of Belgium
The Wolvertem crowd will also be able to see a good part of Belgium’s world silver-medal team.
Nicola Philippaerts, Pieter Devos, Thibeau Spits and Abdel Saïd are announced to start, whileEmilie Conter, Belgium’s reserve in Aachen, is also expected to compete in the CSI5* classes.
It is hard to ask for much more if you want to turn the Stephex Masters into a big post-Worlds celebration.
Because beyond the individual names, Brussels benefits this year from an almost perfect alignment. Aachen has only just delivered its verdict, and the horses and riders are still fully in the rhythm of the very highest level.
No need to artificially manufacture a rivalry.
It comes straight from Germany.
Not forgetting the other heavy hitters from the flat country who were not in Aachen, but who will very much be in Wolvertem: Gilles Thomas, Grégory Wathelet, Jérôme Guéry… Gilles Thomas, Grégory Wathelet, Jérôme Guéry,…
A Derby to shake up Saturday
The programme will obviously not be limited to watching world medallists compare their hardware.
After the classes get underway on Wednesday, the CSI5* really steps into the spotlight on Thursday with the first opportunity to qualify for the Rolex Grand Prix.
On Friday, attention turns notably to the new STX Finance Prize, contested with a jump-off, while breeding will also have its moment with the foal auction: Stephex Exclusive Breeding Collection.
Saturday brings something new: Brussels Derby Challenge.
The idea? To reintroduce the spirit of traditional derbies in a modernised version, with natural obstacles and a course that should break the usual codes a little.
Then comes the Audi Prize, the final opportunity to secure a ticket for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
And then, the joking stops.
500,000 euros and a few world champions
On Sunday at 2:30 p.m., the big grass arena will host the Rolex Grand Prix presented by Audi.
Half a million euros in prize money, an Audi and a Rolex await the best.
But this year, the stakes go a little beyond the prize catalogue.
For several editions now, the Brussels Stephex Masters has been trying to establish itself among the fixtures that truly matter in the international season. Bringing in ten of the 25 world finalists and five members of the Top 10 just a few days after Aachen is a pretty solid argument.
Nina Mallevaey will symbolically put her Brussels title back on the line. Guerdat arrives as world champion. Spits as a Belgian hero. Deusser and Vogel as team world champions.
Aachen has only just closed its doors.
In Wolvertem, nobody seems to have received the message saying the party was over.
Retrouvez la liste complète des cavaliers 5* présents au BSM ici
