News
Hans-Dieter Dreher Beats Gilles Thomas and Pieter Devos in Longines FEI Jumping World Cup, presented by BWP
Text: Sport in de Kijker, Luc Wuyts
With 5 Belgians in a 10-rider jump-off, the odds seemed high that a local rider would claim victory in the ninth leg of the 2024-2025 World Cup series. However, German rider Hans-Dieter Dreher had other plans. Riding his 15-year-old gelding Vestmalle des Cotis, he delivered a flawless final round in 36.14 seconds—just 0.08 seconds faster than Belgium’s Gilles Thomas aboard Ermitage Kalone.
The Top 4 finishers were separated by a mere 0.62 seconds. Gilles Thomas and Ermitage Kalone were just 0.08 seconds behind the winners. Pieter Devos, with his 9-year-old mare Casual DV Z of the Belgian Zangersheide Studbook, was only 0.12 seconds slower, and Gregory Wathelet, on his 13-year-old stallion Bond Jamesbond de Hay, trailed by 0.62 seconds. Course designer Bart Vonck was delighted with the outcome: “I aimed to present top-level sport for the audience and riders, and it worked perfectly. I finalized the jump-off course only a day before the start of Vlaanderens Kerstjumping and received some feedback, but I firmly refused to make changes. I was convinced this setup would deliver a spectacular finale for the audience, and it did.”
Hans-Dieter Dreher was elated with his victory in Mechelen. After placing third in 2022 and 2nd in 2023, his win seemed destined: “I won this class by finding the perfect line between fences 2 and 3. Vestmalle already gave me a great feeling in the first round, which boosted my confidence for the jump-off. However, Vestmalle was nervous entering the jump-off due to the loud and enthusiastic greeting from the crowd. He’s naturally sensitive, but I managed to calm him down quickly, and we pulled off the win. A big compliment to the course designer—the course was very fair. Securing qualification for the World Cup Final was my goal this winter, and now I’ve achieved it. The final is just 50 kilometers from my home, so it would have been strange not to aim for it.”
Gilles Thomas, on the other hand, was slightly disappointed with his second-place finish: “I know that Ermitage isn’t the fastest horse, but losing by 0.08 seconds is frustrating. Still, I feel Ermitage is gradually becoming faster. Our jump-off was chaotic; at one point, Ermitage got startled, and I wasn’t sure how to guide him. I let him decide how to tackle the course, and it turned out fine, but I would’ve preferred to win.”
Pieter Devos was pleased with his third place: “I’m very proud of my mare. This was only the third jump-off at this level for her. My goal was to qualify for the jump-off, and we achieved that perfectly. We lost some time between fences 2 and 3, but Casual is naturally fast and will only get quicker. I’m confident she’ll be the fastest in the world someday. Next year, I’ll return with her to win the World Cup class.”
Organizer Peter Bollen shared the excitement of the riders and the crowd: “The enthusiasm of the Mechelen spectators is largely thanks to the work of our announcers. We’ve witnessed incredible classes, and our visitors appreciate that. We’ve never had a larger audience, and tickets have never sold out so quickly. This year, we started ticket sales over a month earlier than usual.”
