Unstoppable Ruud Bakker (Zoelen-NL) wins Issoudun in Northern Union!

Ruud Bakker from Zoelen is good at winning, and he proved this with his victory in the Northern Union from Issoudun. A total of 963 fanciers participated in this national Grand Prix race, representing 8244 basketed pigeons. The release took place on Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. under calm, southwestern conditions. Ruud took gold with NL23-9173036, a blue hen that arrived at 2:39:57 p.m., covering a distance of 605.521 km at an impressive speed of 1,408.353 m/min. Ruud is widely known as a top fancier in the sprint and middle distance, but he also shows his class in the long-distance races. His loft is built on pigeons with strong pedigrees: including those from Gerard Koopman, Chris Hebberecht, André and Bert Leideman, Jannes and Janus Kat (co-bred), Martijn and Buck de Kruijf, and Jouke Elzinga. Ruud is firmly convinced that the final showing before the race isn't the decisive factor for victory. According to him, it's all about the form of that one outstanding pigeon. Whoever has the most motivated and fittest pigeon in the loft on that day wins. Upon returning from the race, the cocks and hens are brought together. As soon as the season begins, the pigeons train once a day.

However, in the lead-up to national and Grand Prix races, they train twice a day.

The pigeons are fed a high-fat mixture year-round, composed by Ruud himself and known as Bakker Exclusief, produced by Vanrobaeys. Both the old and young pigeons are fed this mixture year-round. In the run-up to the season and at the beginning of each week, this mixture is supplemented with some paddy rice and barley.

Ruud feeds his pigeons a full feeder every day. According to him, increasing the feeder is pointless, simply because a pigeon knows exactly what it needs. This ensures his pigeons look nice and round and fit throughout the season. As for supplements, Ruud relies on mineral and conditioning powder from Dr. F. Mariën, Probac 1000, Forte Vita, and Darba.

Issoudun 606km 8244 pigeons: 1-5-16-17-18-35-58-74-90-92, etc. 59/88

Below you will find the pedigrees of Ruud's first five pigeons from this race.

Christophe Mathues