(CNN) After six months of elite show jumping across 14 cities and three continents, Harrie Smolders has been crowned the overall winner of the 2017 Longines Global Champions Tour. Smolders, 37, guided his stallion Don VHP Z home in 52.43 seconds — a time bettered only by Sweden's rising star Evelina Tovek on the day. And he's only gone and done it... Harrie Smolders WINS the 2017 LGCT Championship! Photo: #LGCT / Stefano Grasso pic.twitter.com/aM90tjSzZP — LGCT (@GCT_events) September 23, 2017His nearest challenger, Lorenzo de Luca of Italy, could only finish in seventh. It meant Smolders became the first rider in the competition's history to wrap up the title before the season finale.

Source: CNN September 24, 2017 21:00 UTC