Stijn (l), father Rudi (m) and Jeroen (r) Rans
On 9th of June 2018 Stijn and Jeroen claimed a 2nd national of 7,682 pigeons in the one day long distance race from Valence, with racing bird Chanti. We wrote in our race report that the Rans brothers were more than ready for the upcoming long distance races. And that was spot on: they have had some magnficent results this year in the long distance, their favourite competition. Here are some telling examples:
Valence 667 km Brabant Union 1,251 p.: 1-9-21-67-103-104-etc. (17/25)
National 7,682 p.: 2-43-90-313-542-545-etc. (14/25)
Barcelona 1.083 km Brabant Union 1,016 p.: 3-28-117-129-etc. (8/12)
National 7,438 p.: 8-157-765-etc. (7/12)
Perpignan 935 km Brabant Union 583 p.: 9-16-28-40-59-etc. (14/22)
National 3,966 p.: 35-73-130-194-296-345-etc. (14/22)
Bergerac 745 km Brabant Union 405 YLs: 1-18-38-70-etc. (7/28
Interprov. 1,054 YLs: 1-31-78-154-etc. (7/28)
An overview of their results in all the races of more than 600km can be found here. Needless to say, they added quite a few championship titles and ace pigeon titles to their palmares as well, including most notably:
6th best pigeon from Barcelona 2016-2018 PIPA Ranking General Champion Long Distance Sans Peur Herent General Champion East Brabant Fondvrienden 1st Ace Pigeon extreme long distance Sans Peur Herent 2nd champion long distance Demer & Dijle 2nd champion long distance olds Sans Peur Herent 2nd champion extreme long distance olds Sans Peur Herent 3rd champion long distance olds KBDB Vlaams Brabant 4th champion extreme long distance fond & long distance yearlings KBDB Flemish Brabant 5th champion long distance yearlings Sans Peur Herent 5th champion extreme long distance olds KBDB Flemish Brabant 7th champion super long distance Brabant Union 10th champion extreme long distance CFW 12th champion long distance Brabant Union Click here for an overview of all championship titles in 2011-2018.
Most of these results can be attributed to key breeding birds Montauban, Ed and Barcelonaduivin. Stock breeder Montauban stems from the pigeon breed of Jos Vanderstappen x Alex Rans. He is also related to Bourgesduivin of Willy Behets, as well as to The 477 of Jos Creten, whose descendants did particularly well in the races from the Rhône valley. Ed was sold in the PIPA auction of Declerq-Vervaeren, and he is a grandson of the renowned Joost (1st Internat. Perpignan yearlings 2003). Today, Ed is the sire of a 1st and 55th national Perpignan. The most important breeder in this team is probably Barcelonaduivin; she is a key member of Stijn and Jeroen's pigeon family. Racing bird Chanti, which we just mentioned (winner of a 2nd Nat. Valence), is a great-granddaughter of Montauban and Barcelonaduivin.
Barcelonaduivin stems from the bloodlines of Robert Van Eycken (via Jos Vanderstappen). Click here for the full pedigree. She was 1st International Ace Pigeon Barcelona over six 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
Today, she is the dam, grandmother or great-grandmother of:
1st Nat. Perpignan. 1st Nat.Zone/2nd Nat. Valence 2018 3rd Interprov. Bergerac ‘15 3rd Prov. ace pigeon extreme long distance KBDB 2018 3rd ace pigeon France One Loft Race 8th Nat. Barcelona ‘18
We will talk you through some of the most successful racing birds of Team Rans from Wijgmaal, this year and in previous seasons.
BE13-2003353, Georgette
The pigeon with the most prominent results in recent years is probably Georgette. She wins an impressive 12 prizes in 12 races, including 10 prizes per 10. This is her palmares in the long distance in 2018 alone:
43rd Nat. Valence 7,682 p. 2018 4th Nat.zone Angouleme 749 p. 2018 62nd Nat.zone Limoges 1,433 p. 2018 Click here for her full list of achievements.
As you can tell from her pedigree, Georgette is a daughter of Lucky Jef x Jose. And these are also the parents of a 28th Nat. Montelimar, a 52nd Nat. Jarnac, a 75th Nat. Montelimar and a 235th Nat. Valence.
BE14-2173231, Lady Barca
Lady Barca showed her true potential in the three most recent classics from Barcelona. She was 6th best Barcelona pigeon 2016-2018 in the PIPA Ranking based on the following top prizes:
319th Nat. Barcelona 7,693 p. 2016 331st Nat. Barcelona 7,874 p. 2017 157th Nat. Barcelona 7,438 p. 2018
In addition, she wins a 130th Nat. Perpignan, a 30th Interprov. Bergerac and a 475th Nat. Perpignan. Her full palmares can be found here. Her parents were both purchased at the annual "Fondvrienden' auction in Herent, where a number of fanciers traditionally give away some of the best birds in their collection. Click here for Lady Barca's pedigree.
BE12-2035116, Oude 116
This Oude 116 wins an impressive 14 prizes in 15 races in the long distance. He is a grandson of De Montauban, the first important bird in the lofts of Stijn and Jeroen. He went missing in a race from Marseille as a five year old but suddenly returned home two years later. He was a moderately talented racing bird but he joined the breeding team anyway. Interestingly enough, he turned into one of the team's best stock breeders. Click here for the pedigree of Oude 116. Here are some of his best results:
85th Nat. Barcelona 7,874 p. 469th Nat. Perpignan 3,966 p. 1503rd Nat. Barcelona 7,438 p. 346th B.U. Valence 1,251 p. 404th CFW Perpignan 1,273 p. 402nd Nat. Valence 6,843 p. 124th B.U. Perpignan 405 p. 298th B.U. Barcelona 1,029 p.
BE15-2003064, Lolo
Lolo stems from some of the team's most fundamental bloodlines: you can tell from his pedigree that he stems from super class breeders Barcelonaduivin and Montauban. Lolo won a top prize from Perpignan as a two year old last year, and she did perhaps even better this year, finishing in 8th national in a demanding Barcelona classic. She does have a remarkable palmares indeed in the long distance:
8th Nat. Barcelona 7,438 p. 2018 25th Int. Barcelona 15,700 p. 2018 11th Int. Barcelona 4,820 hens 2018 23rd Nat. Perpignan 4,620 p. 2017 65th Int. Perpignan 14,851 p. 2017 26th Int. Perpignan 3,528 hens 2017 694th Nat. Agen 2,932 YLs 2016 681st Nat. Perpignan 3,966 p. 2018 916th Nat. Valence 7,682 p. 2018
BE16-2051017, 017
The talented young 017 is another example of the breeding value of Ed and Barcelonaduivin. The 017 is a direct daughter of Ed and her dam Lucie, which is in turn a daughter of Barcelonaduivin. Click here for De 017's pedigree. Lucie is the dam of several first prize winners:
3rd Interprov. Bergerac 55th Nat. Perpignan 135th Nat. Perpignan 5th Ace Pigeon Perpignan 2016-2017
The 017, which is a half sister of Frans (1st Nat. Perpignan 2017), wins the following prizes in two seasons' time:
260th Nat. Marseille 2,336 p. 2018 151st Int. Marseille 2,130 hens 2018 36th Nat. Pau 2,581 p. 2018 338th Int. Pau 11,714 p. 2018 48th Int. Pau 2,728 hens 2018 382nd Nat. Limoges 15,789 p. 2018 47th Interprov. Bergerac 1,299 p. 2017
BE16-2051063, Ace 63
The last pigeon of today is Ace 63, which scored a five out of five in the long distance. She showed her potential as a yearling but she did even better as a two year old, winning three great prizes this season:
35th Nat. Perpignan 3,966 p. 2018 81st Nat. St.Vincent 2,758 p. 2018 391st Nat. Cahors 6,356 p. 2018 63rd B.U. Aurillac 410 p. 2017 287th Nat. Jarnac 5,117 p. 2017
The dam of Ace 63 is another granddaughter of Montauban x Barcelonaduivin, and this racing cock is a half brother of Chanti (2nd Nat. Valence 2018) and Jacques (21st Nat. Narbonne 2015).
To sum up
A report about the many successes of Stijn and Jeroen would not be complete without referring to their father Rudi. During the winter months he is mainly responsible for the caretaking of the pigeons, and he plays an important role in the racing season as well. Jeroen lays out a breeding strategy during the season, and he picks the teams for the different races. He is also responsible for administrative duties. Stijn works as a vet (specialised in pigeons) for the Giantel company (specialised in pigeon feed, medication and supplements), and he is concerned with everything related to racing: diet, medical guidance, training schemes, etc. His approach is then implemented by Rudi. Pigeon racing is clearly a family affair in this team, albeit a family racing at the highest level, with for instance a 1st Nat. Pau and a 1st Nat. Perpignan to their name. In 2018 they claim a 2nd Nat. Valence, along with several other top results in the national long distance.