26 August 2023
ECH & WCH Exloo: Great day for Koos de Ronde, but Brauchle wins
The marathon today brought an exciting battle for the Four-in-Hands, in which the times were tightened further and further. The battle for victory in this part of the race eventually went between Michael Brauchle and Koos de Ronde.
Michael Brauchle wins the marathon
Photo: Krisztina Horváth
In the end, the German was the winner today, followed by Koos de Ronde. Glenn Geerts was in great shape and finished third. Bram Chardon also rode very strong, had no problems anywhere and is now leading the standings. Michael Brauchle has moved up to second place and Koos de Ronde third. This means that there are individual medal opportunities for Koos de Ronde. But the differences for tomorrow are small. There is always one ball between the riders in the top of the standings. So cones day will be a very exciting day. The battle for the team gold will be between the Netherlands and Germany. Although The Netherlands leads the intermediate classification, the difference with the Germans is less than 2 points.
Koos de Ronde was second
Photo: Krisztina Horváth
A great day for Koos de Ronde
Koos de Ronde is very satisfied with his performance today. “I attacked because after the dressage I wanted to climb some places. It was a challenging marathon and obstacles 3 and 4 in particular were executioners. My team ran great! I had one bad luck ball due to my lead in obstacle 6; that just cost me the win. Of course Brauchle always goes full speed, so it was a very nice battle. My horses did great. We had the fastest time on obstacles 1 and 2 and then Brauchle overtook me again and then I had the fastest time on obstacle 7 again. It was super cool and now I’m 3rd in the standings. It will be very exciting tomorrow.” Koos will drive the same horses tomorrow in the same line-up as today. “It was a super day. Lots of spectators and a really nice marathon, in which a lot happened. And that is also part of a European Championship, because the marathon must be an executioner. Today was a great day for the driving sport and especially for me.”
