The race of the year is behind us.
I have said before that if you only participate in a few flights, you have little margin for error.
After achieving a decent prize percentage in Agen but lacking the real top results, it was still unclear what Barcelona would bring. Was the form lacking? Was the motivation lacking? Who can say.
Barcelona was released on Friday morning at 7:45 a.m., and it was going to be a tough one on day 1.
The pigeons had to deal with NNE and NW winds, and no pigeons would be arriving home internationally.
The fact that they don’t get home is why Barcelona is always a fair race with pigeons spread across the entire country.
On Saturday, I set the alarm for 5 a.m. to open the lofts and activate the Bricon PAS . Knowing that it would normally take quite some time, I got back in bed.
The alarm went off a second time at 7 a.m., and when I started checking the reports, I saw that a pigeon had already been clocked in Belgium. It would later turn out to be the international winner. The wait could begin, and I regularly checked Anons to see if any pigeons had been clocked. Suddenly, around 7:39 a.m., several pigeons were clocked almost simultaneously, and I thought, “Okay… if it’s already starting to pick up a bit, it might not be so bad after all,” considering that on day 2, just before the Belgian border, the wind had turned to the southwest.
After the four reports, it remained quiet for almost an hour before the next pigeons appeared on Anons and reached their home base.
It was going to be a tough one…
The Barcelona team consisted of 23 pigeons, a mix of experienced pigeons, new pigeons, and pigeons with a lot of experience. “De Rooie 706” was participating for the fifth time. There was a hen that was participating for the fourth time and a number of pigeons from 2020 and 2021 that were participating for the third time. The pigeons from 2021 and older managed to be on the national results almost every time. So we knew they could do it.
At 9:17 a.m., the first pigeon arrived in Antwerp.
Bart Van Olmen clocked his first nominated pigeon and won 1st provincial and 6th national. On top of that, he won the Silver Wing of the Bruges Barcelona club.
At 10:12 a.m., the second report came in from Antwerp at Kempeneers in Westerlo. They also clocked their first nominated pigeon. It was going to be a good day… men with experience.
On Saturday, we also took our young birds to Melun 320 km for the first time. They were transferred from Quievrain to Melun because the weather forecast for Sunday was bad. The reports from Quievrain started coming in early.
And just like in 2022, when “Het Dakzitterke” won 28th national Barcelona, a pigeon with clipped wings came flying in from afar. This was clearly not a young pigeon, and the blue pigeon landed directly on the landing board. It was “De Kleine Blauwe” Yes! 10:49 a.m., 3rd report in Antwerp, 22nd national report. In the 10 minutes that followed, three more Antwerp pigeons arrived, one of which caused me to drop one place.
“De Kleine Blauwe” finished in 4th place provincial and 23rd place national!
He is a two-year-old who already showed his skills last year with, ao a 1st provincial and 4th national Narbonne yearlings. He was also present at Agen, and he became 17th national ace pigeon long distance yearlings.
“De Kleine Blauwe” is descended from an inbred son of “Nestbroer 402” x “Het Moederke,” a pigeon that is the foundation of the loft. The mother is a daughter of “El Campio Barca” from Geert De Coninck.
In addition to “De Kleine Blauwe,” she has produced several other good pigeons, including “De Rooie 706,” 6th national ace pigeon Barcelona 4 years.
He had already arrived. In before, I had said that I would like to have the first three nominated pigeons at home. These were pigeons that I did not want to lose, on top of the losses I had already suffered this year during the preparations.
Then it was a matter of waiting, waiting for the next pigeons, and that took quite a long time. It was not until 2:20 later that the next one arrived, the 811-22, a 3-year-old cock, good for a 33rd provincial and 192nd national. He is a son of “De Vale” x “Bonte Pau” and in 2024, on his first participation, he just missed out on 1:10, while his nest sister flew a nice 1:20 (unfortunately, she is still missing).
It was going to be a long journey for the pigeons, with long waiting times at every stage. The third pigeon, 565-21, arrived home with a slight injury to its back, caused by a bird of prey… She still won 58th provincial and 362nd national. Still a respectable 1:10. Last year, she just managed to win her prize nationally, but came home badly injured. So she has had bad luck two years in a row, but she did win 3/3 from Barcelona.
The day progressed and the pigeons came home… Except for the first two entries. We had to wait until 8:15 p.m. for the second entry to come home, 465-20. Last year, she was my first pigeon with a 33rd national and she also showed herself at Perpignan.
Still no sign of “De Rooie 706.” Too bad… because he is still missing. He was competing for the last time and was a contender for a nice ranking in Primus Interpares.
On Saturday, the loft could be closed with 9/23 pigeons back home, not great but certainly not bad either.
Sunday was a rainy day, which made it difficult for the pigeons to return. Two more arrived, including one from 2019, which was participating for the fourth time.
At the time of writing, the counter stands at 12/23, just over half. Many experienced pigeons are still on their way, including one from 2018 and three from 2020, as well as a few making their first or second appearance. I expect pigeons to continue arriving here and there over the next few days.
As for “De Rooie 706”… it’s a pitty… if he still arrives, I suspect he will be injured. A pigeon with that much experience should already be here.
We are already removing Perpignan from the program. Last year, we raced Perpignan for the first time in three years because Barcelona was not too difficult. Now these races will remain for next year, and this year it will only be Narbonne with the yearlings and a few old birds.
Hopefully, the losses there will be somewhat more limited. That way, we will still have a nice team to build on for the future. The losses in 2025 have had a huge impact on the racing team here, which means we are taking a step back and have to build a new Barcelona team.
Below is the clocking list
Provincial according to the reporting list: 4 – 33 – 58 – 91 – 94 – 128 – … 11/23 against 761 pigeons (11th pigeon may still drop out)
National according to the reporting list: 23 – 192 – 362 – 706 – … 7/23 against 5819 pigeons
