The application phase for participation in the third edition of the Touquet Classic has just closed. GRANDPRIX Events has received several hundred requests for CSI 3*, 1*, Amateur and Young Horse competitions. Regarding the 3* label, eight of the top one hundred riders in the Longines world ranking are among the candidates for this event, in the heart of a European spring packed with international events. From Thursday 7 to Sunday 10 May, the Opal Coast will have the honor of hosting the world's best rider, Nina Mallevaey. This year, the twenty-six-year-old from the North has firmly established herself in the top ten of the world rankings. Victorious last year in the Rolex Grand Prix of the Stephex Masters in Brussels, crowned French Pro Elite champion, second in the Rolex Grand Prix of Rome among many other rankings obtained at 1,60m, she is also the title holder of the 3* Grand Prix of the City of Touquet-Paris-Plage, which she won last year riding My Clementine. The Lille native had experienced a highly emotional awards ceremony, reaffirming her attachment to her native land and to her loved ones, who came in large numbers for the occasion. Without a doubt, she will be formidable on Sunday, May 10, with a team now well-versed in CSI 5* competitions, including Nikka van den Bisschop, Dynastie de Beaufour, My Clementine and Destine To Be. Other big names will stand in his way, Karl Cook chief among them. Ranked eighteenth in the world, and a team silver medalist at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with Caracole de la Roque, the American has once again chosen Le Touquet to launch his European tour. Cian O'Connor will follow him closely. Ranked 22nd in the world, and an individual Olympic bronze medalist in London in 2012, the Irishman has remained one of the most consistent figures in the world's top thirty for over 20 years. Daniel Deusser will also be joining this lineup of excellence. Ranked twenty-fourth in the world, winner of the Longines World Cup final in 2014 in Lyon with Cornet d'Amour, the German, based at the Stephex stables in Belgium, has been among the most reliable figures in the world elite for almost twenty years. German Marcus Ehning, Brazilian Yuri Mansur and Briton Matthew Sampson are expected to complete the list of world top 100 members expected on the Opal Coast. Marcus Ehning is part of the very select group of three-time winners of the Longines World Cup Final, which he won in Las Vegas in 2003, Kuala Lumpur in 2006 and Geneva in 2010. At fifty-one years old, the centaur remains a benchmark in terms of technical excellence. Yuri Mansur, who represented Brazil at the 2021 Tokyo and 2024 Olympics, is coming off an eleventh-place finish in the World Cup final. As for Matthew Sampson, he will find a trail he knows well. A team silver medalist at the last Longines European Championships in La Coruña, the thirty-five-year-old rider finished third in the Grand Prix du Touquet last year on Médoc de Toxandria. Besides Nina Mallevaey, France will be represented by Nicolas Delmotte, Bilal Zaryouh, William Ligier de la Prade, Juliette Faligot, Titouan Schumacher and also by the young Touquet native Véra Desutter. Seeing such riders choose Le Touquet rewards the work of the GRANDPRIX Events teams, who rely on an extraordinary setting on the English Channel coast, continuously improved infrastructure and loyal public and private partners. Led by the City of Touquet-Paris-Plage, a major renovation has just extended the paddock to 6.000m2 and equipped it with a sub-irrigation system, like the largest European equestrian facilities. In three editions, Le Touquet Classic has established itself as a major event on the spring calendar in Europe. The competitions will be overseen by top-level officials, starting with Cédric Longis, an international course designer whose demanding and highly legible signature is appreciated by both riders and the public. With just two weeks to go until this 2026 edition, everything points to four days of great sport. As always, access to the Equestrian Park will be free and open to the public. See you from Thursday 7th to Sunday 10th May in Pas-de-Calais.