Stijn (l), father Rudi (m) and Jeroen Rans (r)
Stijn and Jeroen Rans had a memorable season last year. They had some tremendous results in all the long distance races, while claiming two national first prizes along the way. We should not overlook Stijn and Jeroen's father Rudi, who is an important member of the team. Both Jeroen and Stijn have a demanding day-time job, making it difficult to spend a lot of time in the loft, especially in winter. Jeroen is responsible for breeding during the season, he picks the teams for the races and he is responsible for administration as well. Stijn, who works as a vet (specialised in pigeons) for the Giantel company (specialised in pigeon products, medication and supplements), looks after everything with regards to racing: diet, medical guidance, training schemes, etc. And Rudi is there to make sure that the schemes are being executed. Pigeon racing is a family affair for this team, a team that is racing at a very high level. The fanciers could tell from the training flights at home that the pigeons were really starting to get in great shape in recent weeks. And the pigeons gained some confidence for the long distance competition in their training flights away from home as well. A team of 25 birds was basketed for Valence, and they delivered straight away, winning a 1st Provincial. The race was a great success overall, as you can tell:
Valence Prov. 667 km 589 p.: 1-5-12-28-45-46-73-88-91-94-97-etc. (20/25)
Zone B2 2,408 p.: 1-14-35-127-217-219-etc. (14/25)
Nat. 7,682 p.: 2-43-90-313-542-545-etc. (14/25)
This is a result to be proud of, with an impressive 82% prize percentage in the province and 56% at national level. The first 3 pigeons that won a 1st, 5th and 12th respectively, will be discussed in closer detail below.
Chanti wins 1st Prov., 1st Zone B2 and 2nd National Valence
The pigeons were released in Valence on 9th of June at 6:30am, and racing hen Chanti was the first to arrive home in Wijgmaal at 15:54, covering 667km with a velocity of 1181 m/min. She claimed a 1st Provincial Zone B2 (2,408 p.) and a 1st Provincial Flemish Brabant (589 p.), as well as a 2nd National of 7,682 pigeons. stijn and Jeroen gave her the name Chanti, after their mother Chantal. And it was in fact their mother who saw the pigeon arrive home. The two brothers were working on Saturday, so their father was left on his own. Due to some issues with the KBDB's registration form, Rudi was in the loft trying to clock the pigeons from Chateauroux when Chanti arrived. Chanti had been basketed after 14 days of brooding. However, three days prior to basketing she and her male partner had been chased out of their box by a loft mate. They tried to have her breed on the floor but that dit not work out. They were then locked inside their box, after which they were able to continue brooding.
Chanti is a sister of Jacques (33rd Nat. Narbonne) and a half sister of Jacqueline (87th Nat. Narbonne). Chanti comes from a first generation of youngsters that were trained properly as youngsters. These youngsters did Bourges and Nevers in 2016. In 2017, the team tested a few yearlings, including Chanti, in the races from Agen and Narbonne. And Chanti did great in both races. The sire of Chanti is BE06-811, also the sire of a 21st Nat. Narbonne, an 87th Nat. Narbonne and a 150th Nat. Tulle. The dam of Chanti (BE10-116) is a granddaughter of the two top breeders Montauban x Barcelona duivin, and she won a 75th Nat. Libourne herself as well. Click here for Chanti's full pedigree.
Chanti's grandmother
Barcelonaduivin comes from the lines of Robert Van Eycken (through Jos Vanderstappen) - click here for her full pedigree. She became 1st International Ace Pigeon in Barcelona over 6 seasons (2007-2012). She was also 2nd Primus Inter Pares (2008-2012) and 7th Primus Inter Pares (2007-2011). She won the following prizes in Barcelona:
51st Nat. Barcelona 2009 262nd Nat. Barcelona 2008 766th Nat. Barcelona 2011 949th Nat. Barcelona 2010 963rd Nat. Barcelona 2012 2385th Nat. Barcelona 2007
She is now the dam of a 1st Nat. Perpignan. Click here for some results from her youngsters, grandchildren and great-grandchildren up until 2017.
BE13-2003353 Georgette, winner of a 5th Prov. Valence
The 5th Prov. was won by Georgette, a hen with a proven record in the long distance. She claimed an impressive 11 out of 11 in the long distance from 2014 to 2018:
43rd Nat. Valence 7,682 p. ( 5th Prov 589 p.) and 14th Nat. Zone 2,408 p.) 437th Nat. Limoges 9,151 p. (40th B.U. 912 p.) 216th Nat. Montauban 3,990 p. ( 6th B.U. 293 p.) On the hottest day of 2015 483rd Nat. Valence 6,236 p. (29th B.U. 845 p.) 235th Nat. Valence 6,542 p. (27th B.U. 451 p.) 654th Nat. Libourne 5,024 p. (20th B.U. 411 p.) 185th Interprov. Bergerac 1,678 p. (25th B.U. 236 p.)
BE16-3604405 Rooie Ham wins a 12th Prov. Valence
The 12th Prov. (589 p.), 35th Nat. Zone (2,408 p.) and 90th Nat. (7,682 p.) was won by Rooie Ham, which comes directly from the Ham Bartels combination (Wintelre, NL). The dam of Rooie Ham is heavily inbred to Paarsborst (1st Nat. Dax and 1st Nat. Lourdes) of Ko Van Dommelen. Click here to learn more. This talented young bird has already won 3 prizes in 3 long distance races:
90th Nat. Valence 7,682 p. 67th Interprov. Montelimar 1,605 p. 59th Nat. Narbonne 3,424 p.
Facing the future with confidence
Stijn and Jeroen had a great result in a rather difficult race from Valence, which shows that they are pretty much ready for the upcoming long distance races. They claimed their first provincial and zonal win of the season, and their prize percentages have given them great confidence. We reckon the pigeons of Jeroen & Stijn Rans will appear in the national results repeatedly in the coming few weeks.