Stefaan Lambrechts learned his trade in the sprint competition, before switching to the shorter middle distance in 2009. Today he surprises friends and foes with a spectacular performance in Châteauroux III.
Stefaan and his 085/16, 18th National Châteauroux III 36,307 young birds
A sprint champion
Stefaan Lambrechts was an avid sprint fancier up until 2008. He moved over to the longer middle distance in 2009, and he was quite successful. He soon managed to win a number of early prizes with Miss Angerville (BE09-6252480). You will learn more about this hen and her parents later on in this article. We assume most of you still remember the impressive 0.483 coefficient with which Linda became 1st National Ace Pigeon KBDB shorter middle distance YBs. Click here to reread our report about Lincia and Stefaan.
Stick to the plan
In 2009 Stefaan became one of many fanciers that were eager to compete in Bourges II. But he decided to skip the race in 2016, despite having been quite successful there in 2015, winning a 50-162-283-582-653-721 against 36,307 young birds, and 18 prizes with 40 pigeons. However, Stefan lost a number of very talented racing birds in that race, just like many of his colleagues. He was left with mixed feelings: “The shorter middle distance is my main goal and it always will be. The only reason for me to compete in Bourges was because there was no middle distance race that weekend. But in a tough race form Bourges like last year your young birds tend to lose fitness, which can affect your final results in the shorter middle distance championships. Last year I actually lost a few pigeons that needed just one more good result to win a national ace pigeon title. This is why I decided to skip Bourges this year. Should I ever decide to compete in this classic again, it would be with a team that is prepared to compete in all late season classics.”
August
Châteauroux is a different story altogether. The middle distance championships are behind us, so a fancier can focus entirely on the last national young birds’ race of the season. Stefaan had a difficult start to the season but he noticed that his young birds were getting stronger every week. They did really well in the last three races from Souppes, winning the following prizes:
13/08: 2,539 YBs: 2-5-22-24-31-39-42-43-53-77 (34/47) 20/08: 1,378 YBs: 16-17-37-43-62-74-82-136-142-156 (28/45) 03/09: 1,119 YBs: 2-18-20-23-27-48-49-58-60-64 (32/40)
Unfortunately for him this was also the end of the shorter middle distance season; the only race that was left was the last national race of 2016, Châteauroux III. His young birds showed on training that they were still very motivated. Stefaan quickly made up his mind, he prepared the baskets and he headed to the basketing club with a team 38 young birds. The race would prove to be another highlight in the career of this fairly young fancier. Team leader 085/16 pulled the team home, overtaking most of their opponents. It was an impressive team performance with an 18th national, and with 8 pigeons in the national top 121. 23 out of 38 basketed pigeons won a prize per 4, including 19 prizes per 10:
Châteauroux Nat.: 18-21-62-84-87-104-119-121-194-236-322-350-448-515-516-863-964-
1295-1300 (23/38)
“A good breed always comes back”
Stefaan knows from experience that a top quality breed will always come to the surface. The sire of his BE16-6081085, which won an 18th national, is the last son of Goede Rosse (BE04-6325441), now called Oude Rosse. Oude Rosse was a top class racing bird of Geert Lambrechts. A son of Oude Rosse, Rosse Witkop was transferred to Stefaan’s loft, but Stefaan decided to put him in the breeding loft right away. He soon became the sire of Stefaan’s best young birds. However, Geert Lambrechts was not really satisfied with the pigeons that he bred from Oude Rosse. He knew that Stefaan had bred a very talented pigeon from his Oude Rosse, and he decided to give his Oude Rosse to Stefaan as well. “Nearly every youngster that I bred from Oude Rosse was put in the breeding loft right away, and it was a great success every time”, Stefaan explains. “I am now convinced that a top quality breed will always come to the surface, even if you get a less talented generation in between.”
A good breed will always come to the surface: De Oude Rosse
The 085/16 has an impressive pedigree from his mother’s side as well. His dam is a direct Dirk van den Bulck and a daughter of Dirk’s BE12-6254056. This pigeon was 1st Ace Pigeon YBs Quievrain, winning a 1st/1,213, 2nd/524, 8th/1,411, 11th/1,881, 16th/2,707, 4th/621, 2nd/307, 2nd/277, 6th/497 and 10th/667 Quievrain. It was shortly after this pigeon got lost that Dirk sold his entire pigeon collection. The parents of the 056/12 are Broer Rode (BE08-613992) x 40000-duivin (BE08-6140000), a stock pair that is featured extensively in the Van den Bulck pigeon breed.
BE16-6081085, 18th National Châteauroux
The grandmother of the 085/16 from her mother’s side won a 5th/541, 12th/1,184, 28th/1,612, 9th/312 Quievrain and a 2nd/2,112 Angerville as a young bird. Her sire Vale As (BE09-6293981) was 1st Ace Pigeon YBs Noyon Tienverbond and winner of the Leo Heremans trophy, having won the following prizes: 1st/323, 3rd/760, 5th/1,072 and 3rd/346. Other top results of these champions can be found on the pedigree of the 085/16.
“A good breed always comes back” (part II)
The 171/16 arrived home exactly 48 seconds after the 085/16, finishing in 21st national place against 14,761 pigeons. The sire of the 171/16 is son Lichte Beer (BE11-6269962), and his pedigree says that he is a “very good racing bird”. But that might be an understatement; he has won a 2nd/297, 4th/518, 2nd/211, 7th/656, 8th/716, and an 11th/574. Stefaan is not the kind of fancier who boasts about the achievements of his pigeons, quite the contrary. The sire of Lichte Beer, Dubbele As 018/10 (1st Ace Pigeon YBs Quevrain, 1st Ace Pigeon YL Quevrain, 2nd Ace Pigeon olds Quevrain with a 2nd/493, 2nd/244, 3rd/130, 3rd/116), is being described as a “decent breeder”. We know plenty of pigeons that are much less talented and are yet considered to be a “super class racing bird” or an “invaluable breeder” by their fancier.
BE13-6319023, son of Lichte Beer, sire of 21st National Châteauroux
We conclude with the grandparents of Lichte Beer from his father’s side: Broer Rode x 40000-duivin. Sounds familiar? But there is more: the dam of Lichte Beer is BE07-6387871, and she is a daughter of Nieuwe Rossi (1st/838, 1st/779 Noyon) x Eenoogske of Leo Heremans. As you might know, Leo Heremans has dominated the prestigious Tienverbond competition for many years. More importantly, the dam of Lichte Beer is also the dam of Broer Rode. And where does the dam of Lichte Beer appear as well? You might have guessed it already: the sire of the 171/16 is related to Broer Rode x 4000-duivin (the grandparents) from his mother’s side as well, and thus to Dochter Nieuwe Rossi x Eenoogske. Like we said, a top class pigeon breed will always come to the surface, and in the case of the 171/16 even three times.
Miss Angerville, fastest of 13,188 pigeons Angerville, the dam of a 21st National Châteauroux
We mentioned her in the beginning of this article, and here she is again: Miss Angerville, the hen that made Stefaan more famous than his 21 years of top level racing. Miss Angerville has shown to be a highly versatile pigeon: she won a 5th Quievrain 712 p., and both a 1st Angerville 955 p. at 1,158 m/min and a 1st Angerville 1,341 p. (fastest of 13,188 duiven) at 1,600 m/min when she was a youngster. In the breeding loft she became the dam of Missy of Hans and Evert-Jan Eijerkamp, which won a 4th/1,309, 4th/1,575, 7th/1,052, and 10th/1,091 pigeons. Miss Angerville is a daughter of Stefaan’s most important stock pair: Blauwe Gert (BE07-6337270) x de Van Loock-Duivin (BE07-6336568). They are also the grandparents of a 1st Olympiad Pigeon 2012 Category F of Dirk Van den Bulck. The Van Loock-Duivin is also the dam of 347/10, 6th National Ace Pigeon in 2010. The sire of Blauwe Gert is Jackpot 039/04 (7 first prizes and ace pigeon Quievrain 2004). The dam of Blauwe Geert is Goed Blauwke 310/04, which won 2 first prizes and everal other top prizes. She won a first prize against 1,000 pigeons in Waver, which tells you everything about how talented this pigeon really is. Click here for the full pedigree of the 171/16.
The head of Miss Angerville
“A good breed always comes back” (part III)
Besides the 085 and the 171 Stefaan had six more invaluable pigeons that worked hard to get home as quickly as they could. Their pedigrees can be found below, enjoy the read.
