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From Athina Onassis to Ellen Whitaker: A who’s who for this year’s Global Champions League


  • With a fortnight to go until the Longines Global Champions Tour 2020 kicks off in Doha, Qatar (5-7 March) the teams are gearing up for the championship race in the GCL (Global Champions League).

    A string of new British riders have been signed up for this year’s teams — Ellen Whitaker will make her GCL debut with the Miami Celtics, James Wilson has been drafted in for the Scandinavian Vikings and young Jack Whitaker is the under-25 rider selected to represent the Cascais Charms for the 17-leg series. Hickstead Derby winner Mikey Pender of Ireland will also be seen in the colours of the St Tropez Pirates for the first time.

    Reigning champions the London Knights will once again be represented by Ben Maher, Emily Moffitt, Martin Fuchs, Nicola Philippaerts and Olivier Philippaerts, with new recruit Cameron Hanley, who recently joined Poden Farms.

    Other British and Irish riders returning for 2020 include Harry Charles, Alexandra Thornton, Shane Breen, Scott Brash and Darragh Kenny.

    US rider Jessica Springsteen moves from Miami Celtics to join Cannes Stars, while world number three Daniel Deusser transfers to St Tropez Pirates, where he joins Athina Onassis (pictured), Pieter Devos, Olivier Robert, Dani G.Waldman and Mikey Pender.

    French star Penelope Leprevost makes her GCL debut with Paris Panthers, while Irishman Billy Twomey joins the roster of Monaco Aces alongside Jos Verlooy, Laura Kraut, Julien Epaillard, Jerome Guery and U25 rider Jeanne Sadran.

    The full line-up for the 16 teams is as follows…

    BERLIN EAGLES

    Ludger Beerbaum, Philipp Weishaupt, Christian Kukuk, Malin Baryard-Johnsson, Marco Kutscher and Harry Charles

    CANNES STARS

    Jessica Springsteen, Lorenzo De Luca, Hans-Dieter Dreher, Jane Richard Phillips, Laura Klaphake and Johan-Sebastian Gulliksen

    CASCAIS CHARMS

    Carlos Lopez, Roger-Yves Bost, Francois Mathy Jnr, Rene Lopez, Sadri Fegaier and Jack Whitaker

    DOHA FALCONS

    Rashid Towaim Ali Al Marri, Bassem Hassan Mohammed, Titouan Schumacher, Yuri Mansur Guerios, Philip Houston and Mike Kawai

    HAMBURG GIANTS

    Bart Bles, Simon Delestre, Vladimir Beletskiy, Arturo Parada Valljo, Suus Kuyten and Zoe Osterhoff

    LONDON KNIGHTS

    Ben Maher, Martin Fuchs, Olivier Philippaerts, Nicola Philippaerts, Cameron Hanley and Emily Moffitt

    MADRID IN MOTION

    Eduardo Alvarez Aznar, Maikel van der Vleuten, Eric van der Vleuten, Mark McAuley, Cindy van der Straten and Michael G Duffy

    MIAMI CELTICS

    Abdel Said, Maurice Tebbel, Jorge Matte Capdevila, Mohamed Talaat, Ellen Whitaker and Gilles Thomas

    MONACO ACES

    Julien Epaillard, Jos Verlooy, Jerome Guery, Laura Kraut, Billy Twomey and Jeanne Sadran

    NEW YORK EMPIRE

    Georgina Bloomberg, Scott Brash, Daniel Bluman, Denis Lynch, Shane Breen and Spencer Smith

    PARIS PANTHERS

    Gregory Wathelet, Darragh Kenny, Nayel Nassar, Harrie Smolders, Penelope Leprevost and Jennifer Gates

    Continued below…

    PRAGUE LIONS

    Niels Bruynseels, Marc Houtzager, Sergio Alvarez Moya, Jur Vrieling, Wilm Vermeir and Anna Kellnerova

    SCANDINAVIAN VIKINGS

    Evelina Tovek, Geir Gulliksen, Christian Ahlmann, Henrik von Eckermann, James Wilson and Teddy Vlock

    SHANGHAI SWANS

    Max Kuhner, Pius Schwizer, Margie Goldstein-Engle, Alexandra Thornton, Frank Schuttert and Lucas Porter

    ST TROPEZ PIRATES

    Pieter Devos, Daniel Deusser, Olivier Robert, Dani G. Waldman, Athina Onassis and Michael Pender

    VALKENSWAARD UNITED

    Alberto Zorzi, Marcus Ehning, Edwina Tops-Alexander, Peder Fredricson, Roberto Previtali and Bertram Allen

    The opening leg takes place in Doha, Qatar, from 5-7 March with the finals taking place in New York in September before teams head to the GCL Super Cup at the GC Prague Playoffs in November, where Shanghai Swans emerged victorious last year.

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