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August 21, 2005 Endurance News Spain's
Endurance Golden Boy Miguel Vila Ubach (ESP), and Hungares Win Individual
Gold
This definitely was an emotional victory. After 160 km in six loops and a riding time of 9 hours 12 min 27 seconds, the winning pair entered the main stadium to cross the finishing line under torrential downpour. The crowd cheered loudly the new World Champion and the tears of rider and crew were streaming down with the rain drops. “I knew we were good but I don’t believe I’m here today,” a happy Miguel declared at the press conference that followed his arrival. “I was a European Champion back in 1999 and I’ve been dreaming for another title ever since but I’d never have thought it would be this one.” Photo: Miguel Vila Ubach (ESP), 2006 FEI World Endurance Champion / © Cealy Tetley The pair were in 47th position after the fourth vetgate but this had not discouraged them. On the contrary, they had been saving their strength for the last 13-km loop. “I knew my horse could fly over the last bit. We rode out of the vetgate, I saw the French girls and decided to follow them as I was sure they would get good placings. The horse felt so strong that we found ourselves quite up front. And then I felt we could make it and decided to just go for it.” Silver medallist Virginie Atger (riding time 9:16:13) praised the great spirit of the French team. “We started slowly from behind all together as a team. And we made our way forward as a team and it has paid off.” Currently fourth on the FEI World Endurance Riders’ Rankings, Virginie Atger definitely has Endurance under her skin. Her mother, Bénédicte Atger, was on the gold medal winning French team at the 1994 FEI World Equestrian Games in The Hague. Elodie Le Labourier (riding time 9:16:14) paid a special tribute to her 16-year old Arabian grey gelding. “He was wonderful today. I am going to retire him after this and I am very happy that he finishes his competition career on such a fabulous win.” Elodie, who is also member of the French team, has gradually made her way to the top level placing seventh individually in the 2002 FEI WEG and fourth in the 2005 FEI European Championship.
159 riders from 41 nations started the competition which makes the 2006 FEI World Endurance Championship in Aachen the largest international event to date. The course, running through Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium, attracted some 20,000 spectators proving the increasing interest taken in the Endurance discipline. Individual
Results (first 10 riders) Team
Results (firth 3 teams) The first ever sports ride of over 100 km was organised in 1973, year of birth of today’s winner Miguel Vila Urach. |
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Today
in Aachen, the Spanish rider Miguel Vila Ubach (ESP), 33, aboard the
grey Arabian gelding Hungares, won the Individual world title in Endurance.
Two young French ladies join him on the podium: Virginie Atger, 22,
on Kangoo d’Aurabelle in silver and Elodie Le Labourier, 24, on
Sangho’Limousian in bronze. This is the first time since the FEI
World Endurance Championships began in 1986 that a Spanish rider wins
the supreme title. 
All
three winners agreed that the greatest difficulty of the day had been
the weather. The morning was dry and fresh with an ideal temperature
for the horses, but as the day went on, rain came making the footing
very deep. “The hills [that some thought would prove particularly
challenging] were no problem, we have the same in Catalonia, but the
weather was the hard part,” Miguel Vila Ubach commented. The performances
achieved today are remarkable given the adverse climatic conditions.
