It became immediately apparent when Peter showed us the wings of his Brive winner. In the left wing, the last primary feather was only half grown, while in the right wing the second-last primary was already more than halfway developed. It was certainly not a normal moulting pattern, but everything turned out to be the result of an "accident" that had occurred about five weeks earlier during the Châteauroux race. On that occasion, he only returned home several days after the provincial race. "It looked as if he had been run over by a tram," Peter recalls. "He was in terrible condition and had several broken flight feathers, which I had to pull out. But because he had given everything to make it back home, I wanted to give him a second chance. I placed him in a section where he had lived before. There he found himself among a few youngsters, several nest hens for the marathon races and, most importantly, his own nest sister, with whom he paired up." Peter's future Brive winner recovered remarkably quickly. He then raced him again on the sprint races, from which he returned home with great ease. That convinced Peter to basket him for Brive—with the well-known outcome. Not only did he win 1st against 2,283 yearlings, he was also the fastest of all 4,814 pigeons competing from Brive. 
Following his victory, he was named "Den Tim", after Belgian cycling star Tim Merlier.Was he especially motivated? "Well, on basketing day his hen was due to lay her second egg. He never got to see that second egg, and perhaps that gave him the extra determination to push himself to the limit."

Excelling in the heat

Brive proved to be an exceptionally tough race. Extremely high temperatures across France and Belgium, combined with a north-easterly wind, turned the race into a real test of endurance. For Peter, this was already his second national victory. He also won the National Guéret race in 2018. At the time we wrote: "Before the National Guéret race weekend, the weather gods turned up the heat even further, with temperatures forecast to exceed 30°C. Naturally, this affected the number of entries. Exactly 13,597 old and yearling pigeons were basketed for Guéret, and the fastest of them all was a light chequer cock raced by the partnership Injon-Vanrie from Beernem in West Flanders." Peter explains: "I believe I have bred a family of pigeons that performs exceptionally well in hot weather conditions. I regularly compete in One Loft Races in Taiwan, Kuwait and Hungary, and there too my pigeons excel whenever temperatures rise above 30°C." Peter still goes out to work every day, and for him pigeon racing is pure relaxation. With 10 breeding pairs, 30 widowhood cocks, a few nest hens and around 70 youngsters, he certainly cannot be counted among the large racing lofts.

Peter, congratulations on your second national victory. Hopefully you won't have to wait much longer for number three—you truly deserve it.

"Den Tim"
BE25-3045280
1st National Brive 2,283 yearbirds
Fastest of 4,814 birds

Distance: 672km
Velocity: 1060.94 m/m

Stefan Mertens