BE25-2102327
1st National Argenton 4,176 old- and yearbirds

Distance: 540km
Velocity: 1,165.37 m/m

After a one-week postponement, the national race from Argenton finally took place. While the main focus is on young bird racing, 4,176 old birds and yearlings were also at the start. Argenton involved three nights in the basket and turned out to be an extremely tough race. In the old bird category, victory went to well-known fancier Jef Vanwinkel. For Jef, this was the 5th national victory of his highly successful pigeon racing career. It all started in 1993 when “Gang-ster” (if I remember correctly, this was a young cock that had claimed the hallway as his territory) won National Bordeaux. In 2005, Jef won National Vichy, and in 2010 he added National Argenton to his record. In 2015, Jef won 1st National Montluçon, and now, 11 years later, he has once again won National Argenton.

“Oh…” Jef begins, “so much has happened in those 11 years. Especially in 2018, when disaster struck and a fierce fire destroyed my entire loft setup, including all my pigeons. It was a moment in my life that still gives me nightmares today.

Fortunately, afterwards I received tremendous support from many friends in the pigeon sport and I was able to make a fresh start, with pigeons from Gommaire Verbruggen, Albert Derwa and Walter Lambeets playing the leading role. Once again, a huge thank you to everyone who supported me back then.”

“The 327”

Jef is one of the pioneers of racing hens, and once again it is a hen that has added a national victory to her record. “The cocks here are only raced as youngsters, and the better ones later become partners for my best racing hens. I once tried racing cocks, but for one reason or another, it simply doesn’t work for me at all.”

“The 327” (BE25-2102327) was entered while sitting five days on eggs and won at an average speed of 1,165.37 m/min. She beat the old birds of Team Hooymans.be (1,158.64 m/min) and Vercammen Jos (1,158.34 m/min).

“The 327” was certainly no stranger to strong performances. As a young bird, she won, among other results, 126th National Bourges against 13,213 pigeons. This year, she has continued to shine with 27th National Bourges, 62nd National La Châtre and 84th National La Châtre.

We spoke to a very happy Jef Vanwinkel. “This victory means a great deal to me and motivates me to work even harder,” Jef said as he concluded our conversation.