What a magnificent sport we have. There is truly nothing more beautiful than those early morning hours, the healthy tension racing through your body, and the goosebumps on your arms when the first winged athletes drop from the sky like falcons. In the South Limburg town of Vijlen, Piet Lindelauf proves week after week that elite sport and passion go hand in hand.
True experts know that reaching the absolute top is one thing, but staying there requires pure discipline. Last weekend, the one-day long-distance flight from Argenton sur Creuse was on the agenda. Although the absolute top prize went elsewhere this time, the grandmaster from Vijlen gave a masterclass that showed the competition just how incredibly strong his team is across the board. This is the honest, pure story of a colony in peak condition.
The Battle of Argenton: Quality Across the Board
Saturday, June 6, 2026, was a day when the speed demons could truly show what they are made of. At exactly 07:00 AM, the starting signal sounded in Argenton sur Creuse for a journey of no less than 570 kilometers back to the Limburg home base. With partly cloudy skies, a pleasant temperature of 20 degrees, and a fairly moderate tailwind from the south, the pace was incredibly high right from the very first meters. This was a race for the true speed beasts, where not a single second could be wasted.
In Section 4, there were 2,759 pigeons in the competition, entered by 235 fanatical participants. Piet Lindelauf did what he is known for and basketed a compact, sharply selected team of 7 iron-clad athletes. What happened next on the notification systems was pure enjoyment for any enthusiast:
The first pigeon stormed across the finish line at 13:26:57 PM with a dizzying speed of 1473.397 meters per minute, securing the 586th provincial prize.
Barely a minute later, at 13:27:58 PM, Piet clocked his second pigeon in 608th place with a speed of 1469.536 meters per minute.
The remaining team members followed in a breathtaking series, taking the 733rd, 736th, and 782nd provincial prizes.
As a closing chord, the sixth flying machine grabbed the 920th prize at 13:42:49 PM.
Let us grab the calculator, because the numbers simply never lie. Piet Lindelauf took no less than 6 prizes out of his 7 basketed pigeons. That means a fabulous prize percentage of nearly 86 percent on a serious one-day long-distance race. While the competition sometimes had to wait hours for the latecomers, Piet showed that his entire racing team hurried home like a well-oiled machine. This is not luck; this is pure class across the board.
A Season Full of Sensational Highlights
To truly appreciate last weekend’s performance, we also need to take a quick look at the impressive streak that Piet Lindelauf Pigeons had already put on the mat earlier this year. The entire 2026 season reads like an exciting adventure book:
On April 18 from Rethel, the spectacle began with the absolute 1st prize against 750 pigeons in the SouthEast Corner, where the winner thundered home at a speed of 1441 meters per minute. Within five minutes, he had already clocked five pigeons at the absolute top.
Just a week later, on April 25, the total decimation of Rethel followed when NL25-1472774 claimed the 1st prize against 3,681 pigeons, and Piet casually flew no less than 34 ronkende positions into the results.
On May 9, the Sourdun Wrecking Ball hit like a bomb, hijacking the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes against 3,471 competitors, led by the phenomenal hen Young Ace. Provincially against a massive 14,304 pigeons, this translated into 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place.
And on May 23, the team flexed their muscles in the burning heat from Reims and Issoudun, claiming the 1st prize in club De Union on both fronts.
The Golden DNA: The Legacy of Gerard and Liam
Behind this constant stream of success lies an iron-clad strain of pigeons and decades of experience. With enormous pleasure and a healthy dose of bravado, Piet masterfully builds on the unshakeable foundation laid by his legendary father, Gerard Lindelauf. Together, they created a dynasty that simply refuses to give up.
The absolute cornerstone of this colony has been the miracle breeder Liam, NL13-1544966, for years. Whether there is a strong tailwind or the pigeons have to work hard with the wind right in their faces, the descendants of this golden male always find their way to the top. It is this rock-solid genetic base that already crowned Piet as the 1st Best Fancier of the Netherlands Unnominated in 2025, alongside securing six national top-ten rankings. The competition was warned, and in 2026, that promise is being delivered week after week.
Our pigeon sport is alive, buzzing, and proves in Vijlen that passion and elite sport come together perfectly. Piet, deep respect for this beautiful demonstration of quality across the board. On to the next wonderful flight!
Jan de Wijs
The Pigeon Boss
