De Ridder – Van den Brande 1st National Ace Pigeon KBDB Sprint Old Birds 2025 1st National Champion Sprint Old + Yearling Birds 2025

Liedekerke: The sprint racers are standing at the gates of the “Holy Weeks.” The weeks in which results must be delivered, the weeks in which the first important top prizes for various championships must be achieved. In other words, the coming weeks will determine the conversations at the bar of the pigeon club and create excitement among all enthusiasts.
For us, this is the moment to head out with a questionnaire to one of the “rising stars” of sprint racing, namely the partnership of De Ridder Yannick and Bruno Van den Brande from Liedekerke. Two passionate fanciers who each position themselves in pigeon racing in their own way. Yannick is the man who sets the direction for both the racing and breeding pigeons. In addition, Yannick is also known as a “pigeon broker,” with the Chinese pigeon market accounting for a large part of his turnover.
Bruno is the CEO of a busy furniture and kitchen company, “Keukens De Abdij” (Ninove). As a side note, “Keukens De Abdij” can proudly call itself the winner of the Product of the Year 2026 award. The Belgian kitchen manufacturer received this recognition for its innovative kitchen cabinets with a multi-solid core, a sustainable and higher-performing alternative to traditional materials such as MDF and chipboard.
Together, Bruno and Yannick form an outstanding team that simply ranks among the very best sprint racers in our country.

Noyon…mon amour
When we asked Yannick why, as a passionate fancier, he limits his pigeon racing to the Noyon races, we didn’t have to wait long for an answer. “Races with two nights in the basket are not my thing. Over the years, I have developed a system in which I know I can guide a large group of pigeons to good results on races with one night in the basket. In addition, here in our region we have a very strong competition where on top days up to 4,000 pigeons are entered. What more could a fancier want if your heart lies with sprint racing?”
Noyon requires typical sprint pigeons… according to some a must, according to others a statement that doesn’t hold up. The fact is that Yannick has built his base with true sprint champions. Yannick: “My foundation goes back primarily to the original Dirk Van den Bulck pigeons. For my own use, I only had 8 original Van den Bulck pigeons in my breeding loft, but they were the 8 best and most famous ones. All the other original Van den Bulck pigeons were mainly intended for commercial purposes.
In addition to the Van den Bulck pigeons, the original Pierre Beyl pigeons have given a serious boost to performance. Pierre Beyl has already achieved several national ace pigeons and is also very successful with the introduction of Van den Bulck pigeons. For example, I bought his 1st National Ace Pigeon Sprint Young Birds “Blizzard King Kittel,” and this bird became the father of my current national ace pigeon “Unicum Blizzard 416.” Such references say more than a thousand words, and I am convinced that I will continue to enjoy a lot of success with the Beyl pigeons.
The original Leo Heremans pigeons have also clearly left their mark. In many pedigrees of my current top pigeons, the Heremans birds appear, and finally there are the pigeons of Sylvain Verhestraeten.”

Racing in Liedekerke

Anyone who has analyzed the results of the De Ridder–Van den Brande partnership knows that they do not show up at the basketing table with a small team. Entering 60 to 80 pigeons in the same Noyon race is no exception. When we asked, “why send such a large group to one race?” Yannick’s answer was short and clear: “this is simply my system of pigeon racing.”
“We start the season with 50 cocks and 50 hens. No total widowhood, but each racing pigeon is paired with a partner that stays at home. This year, they were paired for the first time on March 6. Once the first pairs have been sitting for 14 days, everything is separated and widowhood becomes a fact. At the end of February, we already had some very nice spring days with temperatures reaching up to 18 degrees, and we took advantage of that period to take the training baskets out of storage and train the pigeons daily at either 23 km or 53 km. But be careful, the pigeons must first train well around the loft before we start training them on the road, and by training well I mean easily flying for a full hour. There has to be speed in the group. When you see that, you know the condition is right and the first training tosses can take place perfectly. As for feeding, our own mixtures (“Flanders Collection” blends mixed by Van Robaeys) are used, and “Kura Magic” is added to the drinking water almost daily. Once they are separated again, so after the 14-day incubation period, there are no additional training tosses scheduled. Normally, they go straight into the basket from the first Noyon race onward. Only if I personally judge that the risk is too high that they won’t be able to be released and will likely be brought back, we do not basket them. Yannick continues enthusiastically: “Motivation… that’s my ‘piece of cake,’ and I really enjoy spending time on it and prefer to handle it myself. How and what exactly is difficult to explain, but it ranges from creating a few new dark corners, to showing different partners, or opening an empty nest box, etc. The aim is to create a different motivation for many pigeons each week, and I know very well how and with which pigeons I can make others jealous. If you, as a fancier, master that, you are already very far ahead.” 
As for care, things are similar here as in many other places, and we generally follow the same care routine.
Saturday (arrival day):
The pigeons return home and are allowed to stay with their partner for half an hour. After half an hour, they are separated and fed. On the menu is a full ration of breeding mixture, mixed with Gervit W (Röhnfried) and K + K Protein (Röhnfried). “Recup” (vet P. Blancke) is added to the drinking water. In the evening, the same menu is served again.
Sunday:
A very limited amount (not even a tablespoon per pigeon) of a light/low-protein mixture is fed. This mixture consists of a mix of depurative feed, super diet, hemp seed, and maize. On Sunday, no pigeons are allowed outside.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday:
This light mixture is given again, and from Wednesday onward it is enriched with Energy Oil and Ro 200 (both from Röhnfried).
On Monday and Tuesday, liquid tea from Travipharma is added to the drinking water.
Thursday and Friday:
The energy-rich “Finish” mixture is fed, and Carbo Power (Brockamp) is added to the drinking water.

From a medical point of view, veterinarian Bjorn Geeroms visits weekly. This is mainly to check the pigeons for trichomoniasis and coccidiosis, as I haven’t administered any treatment against respiratory diseases for at least two years. Do we have an ideal loft then? Haha… I always say that in terms of loft climate, I probably have the worst loft of anyone. Despite it being a wooden loft with glass roof tiles, I never seem to get it properly warmed up. There is a certain “coldness.” For that reason, the floor is covered with a thick layer of well-dried pea straw. This mainly creates some comfort for the cocks. For the hens, this is not really necessary, as they stay in an adjoining aviary during the day. It is important to note that our loft is not damp, and that is very important. During the week, both cocks and hens train twice a day. In the morning, first the hens (flying 1 hour 45 minutes – if necessary with the flag), then the cocks (flying 1 hour 15 minutes). In the evening, again the hens (45 minutes), followed by the cocks (40 minutes).

1st National Ace Pigeon KBDB Sprint 2025

The star of the 2025 season. “Unicum Blizzard,” a name given to this outstanding blue hen after winning the 1st National Ace Pigeon KBDB 2025 title in the old birds category, achieving the lowest coefficient ever of 0.59% with 6 prizes. A unique achievement in Belgian pigeon racing. What makes the story even more remarkable is that “Unicum Blizzard” achieved her 6 results—required to win the national KBDB ace pigeon title—within the first 8 weeks of the season. “At one point, we had the scare of our lives and experienced the longest 47 terrifying minutes of our lives. As mentioned, the national KBDB ace pigeon title is decided by the 6 best results. ‘Unicum Blizzard’ already had 5 top results, so one more to go. I remember very clearly that we had 74 pigeons in the race and achieved a top result. Even more impressive, within a few minutes, 73 out of the 74 pigeons were home… one pigeon was missing… I probably don’t need to tell you which one. At such a moment, all possible worst-case scenarios flash through your mind, but exactly 47 minutes after the last recorded pigeon, she suddenly appeared—flying in from completely the wrong direction. You could clearly see she had pushed herself to the limit and was very exhausted. By Tuesday she already looked better and was flying smoothly again. On Friday evening, she was basketed again, and a day later she returned flying completely alone. However, she made a turn, and in that moment three other pigeons joined her. Fortunately, she was still clocked first (won 1st prize), because in terms of coefficient it makes a huge difference whether she is registered 1st or 4th.” Was “Unicum Blizzard” specially motivated? “I just explained how important motivation is to me for the Noyon pigeons, but here goes my theory. ‘Unicum Blizzard’ was sitting in the top-left nest box in the corner of her section. She had no neighbors to motivate her, nor was there another hen trying to take over her box or cock. I think she was simply extremely motivated by her cock, because in 2024 she was already performing exceptionally well, but lacked one real top prize to rank among the KBDB ace pigeons.” In the meantime, “Unicum Blizzard” has already been moved to the breeding loft in Pajottegem, where she has a luxury breeding box at her disposal. As a daughter of 1st national ace pigeon “Blizzard Kittel,” her “superior genes” could hardly be better, and it would not surprise us if “Unicum Blizzard” leaves a strong mark on the De Ridder–Van den Brande colony.

Young Pigeons

Top results are also achieved with the young pigeons. As an example, we take the result of 06/09/25: Noyon – 1,750 young pigeons – 85 entered:
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-24-25-26-27-28-29-30-31-32-33-34-35-36-37-38 etc… By the 60th prize, the name De Ridder–Van den Brande appears no fewer than 48 times! “We focus 100% on racing with old and yearling pigeons, and once that season is almost finished, we turn our attention to the young bird program. Each year, we breed 200–250 youngsters for our own use. We breed many because we lose a lot, and we also select daily. Every youngster must follow the system perfectly, and any that resist are ruthlessly removed. The goal is to end up with around 80 youngsters—but 80 that all have the ‘grinta’ to fly at the very top of the results. Our caretaker is Robbe Coone. Robbe races together with his father Francky, and last season they achieved 1st National Ace Pigeon Small Middle Distance Old Birds. From their loft, 40 hens have been transferred, and we will normally race them on the national races. Note… this is a trial project… the evaluation will be made at the end of the 2026 season. It is also worth mentioning that we do not have very early-bred youngsters. The earliest eggs from the breeders are dated at the end of January. Like many others, our youngsters are darkened until the longest day of the year and then exposed to artificial light. The sexes are separated in time, the youngsters are raced on the sliding door system, and the first training tosses are scheduled for early July. All youngsters that remain are kept over winter and get another chance to prove themselves as yearlings. Once they are yearlings, only results count—no more excuses.”

Breeding in Pajottegem

Yannick is a man with a plan… for him, it’s not only about superior pigeons, but the entire surrounding setup must also be top-level. Racing takes place in Liedekerke, but the breeding loft is located in Pajottegem. We call it a breeding loft, but this impressive facility is on a completely different level, both in terms of the quality of the pigeons and the infrastructure. As a visitor, you immediately feel that things are more than serious here. Both the professional approach and the installations are so overwhelming that they truly leave you amazed.

In total, there are 90 breeding boxes, each with its own individual aviary. In addition, there are 35 boxes for 16 “AI pairs” and 60 foster pairs.

The lofts house the very best breeding lines—based on the four previously mentioned foundation lines—with the following national KBDB ace pigeons playing a prominent role:

• “Blizzard Kittel”: 1st National Ace Pigeon KBDB Sprint Young Birds 2021 @ Beyl 
• “King Arthur” (a cousin of “Blizzard Kittel”): 1st National Ace Pigeon KBDB Sprint Young Birds 2023 @ Dirk Van den Bulck 
• “Phantom Blizzard”: 1st National Ace Pigeon KBDB Sprint Young Birds 2024 @ Beyl 
• “Unicum Blizzard 416”: daughter of “Blizzard King”: 1st National Ace Pigeon KBDB Sprint Old Birds 2025 

New Plans

Yannick is ambitious, and with all his experience in the pigeon world, he is now taking his first steps into the horse world. The foundations for a 65-meter-long horse stable have already been laid, and above these stables, pigeon lofts will also be built. The future will show where this story leads, but one thing is certain… Yannick does not rush into things and knows very well what goal he has in mind.

The entire Herbots team wishes him every success.

Stefan Mertens