The Dax International is, for many European breeders, the ultimate test of endurance riding: almost a thousand kilometers from southwest France to the Netherlands and Belgium, with the Massif Central mountain range running through it. The 2026 edition has already secured its place in the history books, but not for its speeds, quite the opposite.
Almost a week in the basket before starting
The pigeons were basketed on Monday, July 7, 2026. Normally, they are released two or three days later. But in Dax, conditions weren't favorable until Sunday, July 12, when at 7:15 a.m., 9,501 pigeons were released, 3,423 of which were Belgian (2,315 older birds and 1,108 yearlings ). Almost a week's wait in the baskets, with all the physiological strain that entails, before facing nearly a thousand kilometers of flight.
35°C heat, headwind and smoke on the horizon
If the prolonged basketing was already a serious handicap, the weather conditions during the flight made the day quite different. Local temperatures exceeded 35°C along the route, while a strong northeasterly wind blew against the pigeons for almost the entire journey. To worsen the situation, a large forest fire in the Fontainebleau forest filled the sky with thick smoke right at the end of Monday's flight, even forcing the closure of the A6 motorway.
PigeonBoss's analysis was straightforward: it wasn't an ordinary sport flight, but a brutal battle against the elements.
The international winner: H. Timmers, from Oostvoorne
Despite the ordeal, some pigeon had to come in first. The international winner in the old pigeon category was H. Timmers , from Oostvoorne (Netherlands), who registered his pigeon on Monday, July 13th at 13:07 CEST after covering 993.25 km at an average speed of 703.52 m/min (just over 42 km/h). In a normal Dax race, that speed would fall far short of the international first place. In 2026, it was enough for victory.
The Belgian nationals: Noël Peiren and Vervalle Stefan
In the Belgian national championship, the winners by category were:
Olds: Noël Peiren (Zedelgem), who covered 886.6 km at 691.03 m/min and arrived on Monday at 10:59 CEST, almost 28 hours after the release.
Yearlings: Vervalle Stefan (Oeselgem), with 876.6 km at 638.19 m/min and recorded at 12:29 CEST on the same Monday.
The Dutch national winner recorded a speed of 695 m/min, a figure considered historically low for a first place in this event.
The return rate says it all
The most telling statistic of this race isn't the winner's speed, but the percentage of pigeons that returned. In many clubs, only 10% of the pigeons were back by Monday night . The rest were still lost, would arrive in the following days, or simply wouldn't return. For birds that had spent almost a week in the baskets before facing those conditions, every kilometer completed was a victory in itself.
What does this edition of Dax leave us with?
The 2026 Dax International once again demonstrates that European long-distance racing is not just about speed or prestigious bloodlines. It is a test of physiological endurance, navigation under pressure, and extreme physical condition. The pigeons that returned on the first day did so against the heat, against a headwind, against smoke, and against the accumulated exhaustion of days in the basket.
For breeders working with long-distance lines, recording each pigeon's performance in extreme conditions like these is invaluable information when deciding on pairings. Noting which birds returned on the first day, at what speed, and from what distance allows for the development of selection criteria based on facts, not assumptions. In FirePedigree, you can cross-reference this flight data with each pigeon's pedigree to identify the birds that truly perform under adverse circumstances.