Only just eight pairs reached the jump-off over 160 centimeters, which was opened by the Swiss Alain Jufer and his Oldenburg gelding Dante MM. The Jurassic remained faultless and crossed the finish line after 44.79 seconds. For the Frenchman Julien Epaillard who had already won the World Cup competitions in Lyon and Madrid, the time stopped at 42.02 seconds. After another rider already fluffed at the second obstacle, only Edouard Schmitz remained - just like he did in Basel. The young Geneva rider rode his Holsteiner Quno at a fast pace and was level with Epaillard at the halfway point of the course. Knowing that many World Cup points were at stake, Edouard Schmitz slowed down a bit before the final jump and secured an excellent second place and 17 World Cup points with a time of 43.44 seconds.
This result in Amsterdam brings the Swiss candidates closer together for the World Cup final in Omaha in the beginning of April. After 12 of 14 stops in the Western Europe League, Edouard Schmitz is in intermediate 16th place in the World Cup standings, followed by Pius Schwizer (22) and Steve Guerdat (25). The top 18 plus defending champion Martin Fuchs will travel to the USA for the indoor season highlight.
