Pau International Roundup: Seven days of crushing the cage is hard to stop the way home
The highly anticipated Pau Long Distance Race, Europe's first international race of 2024, has come to an end, with the Dutch and Belgian pigeons taking first and second place respectively, and the French one day pigeons taking third place overall. Looking back on this ultra-long tug-of-war, I am quite emotional!
The race took place early on the 17th of June with 13,130 pigeons basketed from six countries, including 3,368 in Belgium, 4,314 in The Netherlands, 659 in Great Britain, 1,181 in Germany, 3,568 in France and 40 in Luxembourg. That's an increase of 499 pigeons compared to last year, which shows what everyone is looking forward to in this race!
However, thunderstorms and northeasterly headwinds along the race line caused the Belgian Colombe Joyeuse pigeon federation to postpone the release. This postponement was postponed three times and the pigeons were kept in a small cage for seven days. It wasn't until Monday, June 24 that the entire race line cleared, and the cage was released at 8 o'clock local time, but there was still a northeast headwind, which had a big impact on the race.
At 20:32 on the night of the release, the first pigeon arrived home in the French race in the 750-800km category, with a velocity of 1007.67 m/min. More than 60 pigeons arrived home on the same day, and none of them returned on the same day except France. Early on Tuesday morning, the fastest Belgian pigeon was clocked in the Lille area, the BE22-4124317 Raindrop Trachoma Rainspot Hen of Quito & Tom Derek at 05:09:33 with an average velocity of 1036.49 m/min, beating all the French pigeons.
An hour later, at 05:59:07, the 22-2213621 red hen of J.W. Van Giles of the Netherlands arrived home and became the fastest pigeon in the entire international competition, flying 1003.7km with a velocity of 1046.49 m/min, winning the national first prize in the Netherlands and the overall international victory. Soon the Dutch pigeons were in the top 500 at around 12 noon. THESE PIGEONS WERE BETWEEN 950 AND 1150 KM, WITH SIX OF THE NATIONAL TOP 10 IN THE NETHERLANDS OVER 1,000 KM AND THE FARTHEST BENNIE HOMMA B FINISHING FOURTH AND FIFTH AT 1,150.776 KM AT 10:47 AND 10:50 RESPECTIVELY.
National top 10 results in The Netherlands
New overall winner from Pau "Goldmine"
J.W. Van Gilles of the Netherlands said of the morning of the arrival: "I got up early to wait for the pigeons, finished my coffee and read the newspaper. At around 5 o'clock, the news of the Belgian pigeons reporting was seen. At about 6 o'clock I entered the loft and started working as usual. Suddenly the pigeon was seen flying like a comet, flying from the air to the entrance.
It was a wonderful moment and I was so excited and excited when it was confirmed that I had won the title, I was shaking all over my body and I couldn't even kick my breath. In this race from Pau, my first nominated pigeon has not yet arrived home, which is a bit of a pity. But I was very lucky to win the championship, and this victory left everything else behind.
This pigeon, the third nominated of his own, was born without racing as a young birds, but at the age of one year he was raced in the international race from Agen (2023) and won a 12th National Netherlands against 5,297 yearlings. This year, he went one step further and won an international first prize again, which was named "Gold Mine". His sire comes from the bloodlines of the Limbourg brothers in The Netherlands, and the dam is a granddaughter of the famous Michel of Kohl Heide, both excellent long distance bloodlines.
New overall winner from Pau "Goldmine"
Pedigree of the new international winner from Pau, Goldmine
The happiest thing about raising pigeons is "a group of friends drinking wine and chatting with pigeons"
J.W. Van Giels' family is not involved in his hobby, saying in an interview: "They don't get involved, and if I'm terminally ill, they'll probably just sprinkle a handful of food in the basket and that's it." This time I won the championship and I am very proud at home to be congratulated by them.
For me, pigeon racing is a pure hobby in which I can spend a lot of time, money, and also have some ambitions and expectations, and I am not just satisfied with the status quo, I will always strive to be better. The happiest thing in our sport is when a group of friends drink beer together and talk about pigeons for hours.
What I like most is the nervousness and excitement when the pigeons arrive home! The best part of the long distance races in ZLU is when the pigeons suddenly come out of the darkness late in the evening, flap their wings and fly into the shed. At this moment, it gives me goosebumps just thinking about it! Just like this morning!
Pigeon racing, the main thing is to make people hopeful! It didn't fly well today, I'm going to readjust and maybe win the next game or next season. This is not what some people think is pigeon racing. I always have a good time in the loft and it's nice to be in it with the pigeons, and with that comes good results. The sport is sacred, not as the fanatics think, and if they don't get the pigeons for profit they will be disappointed, and they will get rid of them as soon as possible.
My favourite race is the 1000km race from Barcelona because it's the farthest and most fascinating. Next, I hope I do well in Barcelona.
New overall winner from Pau "Goldmine"