Henrik von Eckermann was back to his best at the Grand Prix of Rome ©Longines Global Champions Tour

Sweden's world number one Henrik von Eckermann has forced his way into the Global Champions Tour title race following victory at the Grand Prix of Rome.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic team champion rode King Edward to glory for the second time this year at the Circus Maximus in Italy's capital.

The 42-year-old now has 235.50 points and is 2.50 and 15.50 behind Dutch duo Maikel van der Vleuten and Harrie Smolders, respectively, with two events left in the season before the finals.

In Rome, Von Eckermann clocked in after 41.26sec to beat Germany's David Will on My Prins van Dorperheider by 0.20 at the ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium.

"I had two shows that were not that great with King Edward, I lost a little bit of the feeling and there were a couple of things, like I changed to a hackamore, and the feeling that something is not really like it should be," said von Eckermann.

"I was almost getting a bit crazy because you know how it should be but you don’t really 'get it'.

"And now it was back how it should feel.

"That for me, of course winning is amazing, but that feeling when you feel that you are back and the horse is with you to 100 per cent.

"That is everything, just everything."

Denmark's Andreas Schou, riding I Know, and Swede Peder Fredricson on Catch Me Not S remarkably both finished with a time of 42.27 to end in joint-third place.

In the Global Champions League team event, Van der Vleuten combined with American Laura Kraut for victory with just four faults in Rome.

They recorded a combined time of 132.15 for Madrid in Motion to beat the Paris Panthers duo of Smolders and Briton Ben Maher.

Istanbul Warriors' Schou and Abdel Saïd of Belgium then rounded out the top three.

Despite the win, Madrid in Motion are still some way off Riesenbeck International's 302 points with a total of 264.

"I am just thrilled, this is really exciting, I came here with a young horse and I wasn't expecting Maikel to use me on the team but he said we have a bit of a situation so you are going to jump for the team so I am just really pleased I didn’t let the team down," Kraut said.

"This is a great team to be with and all horse people so Maikel said to me, you do the best you can do and that is all we can do."

The Tour is set to return next in New York City this weekend with competition taking place from Friday until Sunday (September 22 to 24).