Lion-d’Angers, October 18, 2025 — Cross-country day at the Mondial du Lion delivered everything it promised. The 6- and 7-year-old horses provided an exciting show, full of twists and turns, to the many spectators gathered at the Parc de l’Isle Briand.
6-Year-Olds: A Challenging Course That Shuffled the Rankings
As riders mentioned yesterday, “with 6-year-olds, you never know.” The course proved them right. While about half of the field completed without jumping faults, several favourites saw their hopes vanish.
Leading after dressage, Olympic champion Julia Krajewski and Ajana fell just two fences from home. Both are uninjured, but the incident meant elimination — opening the door for Lara de Liedekerke-Meier (BEL) and Tara Van Het Leliehof, who now top the leaderboard.
The Belgian rider leads ahead of Melissa Joannides / Graf Leopold (GBR) and Thomas Carlile / Juste Unétoile, the best-placed French combination, both producing faultless rounds.
The 6-year-old World Championship title will be decided tomorrow morning at 11 a.m., following the traditional horse inspection at 9 a.m.
7-Year-Olds: Demanding Course and Impressive Comebacks
In the 7-year-old class, the course lived up to expectations: challenging but fair. Around half of the 70 starters went clear, with nine achieving the optimum time.
Several riders made major climbs up the leaderboard. France’s Benjamin Massié produced two perfect “maxi” rounds — moving from 60th to 15th with Irland des Chomies, and from 40th to 8th with Indigogrey Savigny AA.
At the top, Lara de Liedekerke-Meier maintained her lead with Helios, winner of yesterday’s dressage phase. She is followed by Tom McEwen (GBR) / Brookfield Danny de Muze and Kevin McNab (AUS) / Newmarket Amy.
The best French rider, Stéphane Landois with Hazelberg’s New Dehli, now sits in 4th place, just ahead of Thailand’s Korntawat Samran in 5th. With less than one rail separating the top five, tomorrow’s show jumping finale promises to be thrilling.
A Double Lead for Lara de Liedekerke-Meier
Holding the provisional lead in both age categories, Lara de Liedekerke-Meier reflected on her strong day:
“Everything is going well! Both my horses were excellent. It was a beautiful course, worthy of a world championship. Yes, there were a few falls, but everyone is fine. For tomorrow, both horses are great jumpers and came home with all four shoes — which is important at this level. As for whether the rider can handle the pressure… we’ll see!”
The final verdict will be revealed tomorrow, concluding an intense and captivating weekend at the Parc de l’Isle Briand.