While the Parra Negra final was closing in the Canary Islands a few weeks ago and Barcelona is counting down the days to the July 3rd release, the international long-distance calendar already had its first serious event this month: the Pau International , organized by La Colombe Joyeuse, which each season opens the European long-distance competition before Barcelona, Marseille or Perpignan arrive.
The race that opens the season
Pau is no ordinary race. It's the first major international test of the year for pigeon lofts from Belgium, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, which send thousands of birds to the south of France each year for the return flight hundreds of kilometers back to their respective countries. The actual distance depends on the location of each loft: returning to a Belgian loft near the French border is not the same as also crossing the English Channel to reach the United Kingdom.
It's not a new or passing fad race. Pau has been one of the benchmark release points for European long-distance pigeon racing for decades, and winning it, or simply achieving a good result, is something many Belgian and Dutch fanciers have pursued for generations without success. It's organized by the La Colombe Joyeuse club, and entries from lofts in Belgium, the Netherlands, and France are managed centrally, while German and British participants register independently to enter the international rankings.
The 2026 edition, in figures
The basketing for this edition closed on Monday, June 15th, and the release took place on Friday, June 19th at 8:45 a.m. Key facts from the day:
- 10,601 old pigeons were basketed for the test.
- Released on Friday, June 19th at 08:45 h .
- Flight conditions: intense sun, around 30°C on the flight line.
- Light headwind from the southeast for much of the journey.
With that heat and that headwind, it wasn't a day for widespread fast times: many pigeons didn't arrive until the afternoon or even the next day, which is normal in a long-distance race held in the middle of June.
Kati Lippens, first in the Old Women category
The international winner in the Old Pigeons category was Kati Lippens , from Izegem, Belgium, whose pigeon was timed on Friday, June 19th at 8:36 pm after covering 890.449 km at an average speed of 1,251.74 m/min (75.1 km/h). This result confirms the high standards of a loft with a rich history: Kati Lippens is the daughter of the late Noel Lippens, one of Belgium's leading long-distance pigeon fanciers for decades, which adds another layer of meaning to the victory: the genetics and expertise of a family-run loft continue to deliver success generation after generation.
Why is this test of interest even though there are no flights in Spain?
Spain doesn't participate in the Pau International, but the result is equally important to any breeder working with European long-distance bloodlines: many of the pedigrees circulating here today originate, directly or indirectly, from Belgian and Dutch lofts that were forged precisely in races like this one. An international result in Pau, just like one in Barcelona or Perpignan, is the kind of data that distinguishes a true bloodline from a piece of paper with nothing behind it.
Furthermore, Pau marks the start of a busy schedule in the coming weeks: after this first event come Marseille, Perpignan, and, on July 3rd, the Barcelona International, the season's major event for pigeon lofts across Europe. The results in Pau are already providing clues as to which lofts are in good form heading into these races, and breeders who closely monitor the performance of Belgian and Dutch lines usually take note of who stands out in this first round.
That's why at FirePedigree we insist that a pigeon's pedigree should include its racing results and those of its family, not just its genealogy. If you want to keep track of your pigeons and document their performances with the same rigor, you can create your account on FirePedigree and start documenting them.
Source: pipa.be .
