In recent years, the release of the pigeons in Pau on the planned Fridays has been postponed more often due to bad weather conditions in the Pau region. They also moved to a release site elsewhere in southern France. In 2021, for example, we moved to Mont de Marsan and last year to Bordeaux in the west. This somewhat affects the classic Pau release, which eventually has world fame. The organizer Colombe Joyeuse in Brussels made a conscious decision last winter for a new release site, which is a little north-east of Pau. This was in hopes of avoiding the bad weather that was common in the old area. The choice fell on a very suitable location, namely the Hippodrome du Pont-Long in Pau in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques. This international racetrack has a length of 865 meters and there are no obstacles in the area such as tall trees and/or power lines. Actually ideal for release.
In 2022, 15,436 pigeons took part in the international competition and were used by six countries. England and Luxembourg were back after a year's absence (including Corona).
Unfortunately we had to realize this year that almost all participating countries had fewer pigeons in the basket. A drop of between 17 and 21%. With the exception of England, where 122 other participants took part in this classic. Internationally, this meant that 2,905 fewer pigeons were in the race. International were 12,631 pigeons in the competition.
On Friday morning (June 23) there were low clouds with fog in and around Pau. Unfortunately, it was not possible to release the pigeons early in the morning, so the release was postponed to Saturday. The forecasts for Saturday and Sunday were better.
On Saturday there were no clouds at the release site and almost no wind at a temperature of around 16°C. On the flight route no clouds and weak wind, mainly from the northeast. It was decided to start at 7.20am.
In the evening hours, the PCs, laptops, I-Phones, etc. were switched on again to see the first arrivals in France and to follow their arrivals. These first arrivals gave an indication of when to expect pigeons in other countries. After a first arrival, the excitement then increases. Who gets where an early pigeon or maybe the national/international victory….
Then at 7.45 p.m. the first notification appeared. The well-known breeder from Rollot (Somme dept.) n.l. At 19:43, Gerard Ledoux had two pigeons over a distance of 733 km. Both reached an average speed of 986 m/min. Two reports from Philippe Bazille from Ailly le Haut Clocher followed a little later. This caught two pigeons at 771 km at 19.44 and 19.51 and gave speeds of 1036 and 1026 m/min. The fastest pigeon in France was recorded by Noyelle Hervé from Preures at 821 km and a speed of 1044 m/min.
The first Belgian pigeon was entered by Christian Cuvelier from Tournai, a town on the Scheldt in the province of Hainaut. She was reported at 21:38 at a distance of 400 miles (658 km). Speed ​​997 m/min.
Also from England came a message from the well-known fund player Mark Gilbert from Winkfield. He clocked his pigeon at 9:45 p.m. over a distance of 902 km. Speed ​​1041 m/min.
A total of 215 pigeons arrived on the first day of racing, 18 from Belgium and 2 from Great Britain. In Germany it was Freialdenhofen and Sons from Aldenhofen who recorded the first pigeon at 8.06am on Sunday morning with 981 km and a speed of 871 m/min. Luxembourg followed with Hubberto Alves, whose pigeon reached the loft at 8.56am on Sunday morning 861km at a speed of 732m/min.
Unfortunately it was impossible to get pigeons in the Netherlands on the first day of the race. So it was Sunday morning when the first entry from the Netherlands appeared on the ZLU entry list. And this one came from Strijen in South Holland. At 05:04:57, well known long distance breeder Ad Fortuin saw his first drawn "Joep" land on the outing. He had the distance of 1004 km with an average speed of 1062 m/min. covered.

That meant the 1st prize international and national !!!

On Saturday evening, Ad quickly realized that no pigeons would arrive in the Netherlands and certainly not on the other routes. Nevertheless, he and his wife Willeke stayed on the terrace and enjoyed coffee and soft drinks. He stayed out until 11 p.m. He then left a lamp on in the garden to illuminate the area in case a pigeon should fly by during the night. The flaps remained open and the system switched on.
Ad knows better than anyone that on the second day of racing the first pigeons can go out on the wing very early. So on Sunday morning he was already with the pigeons at 5 a.m. and ran towards the loft. On the loft he was overtaken by a pigeon that arrived so fast that Ad didn't recognize it. Looking at the system, he saw that it was "Joep".

Unfortunately, Ad didn't see him coming.

Congratulations!

(c) www.herbots.com Author: Marcel Görtzen