National Championship 2025: All Round Category, the Ultimate Test of the Complete Pigeon

Among all the annual standards of the National Championship, the All Round category remains the most demanding, requiring the highest number of counted races: eight in total. These must fall within the limits of the Speed (100–300 km), Middle Distance (300–500 km), and Long Distance (over 475 km) categories, with between two and four races from each category being centralized. In addition, at least five of the eight results must be achieved in the overall stage rankings, which considerably increases the level of difficulty.

Even under these conditions, no fewer than 914 standards were achieved in the All Round Old Birds category after the 2025 season. The battle for the national title lasted until the final race, as did the fight for third place, with podium positions decided by differences of only a few hundredths of a point.

Alexandru Popescu, National Champion in All Round Old Birds

The All Round category perhaps best defines the typology of pigeons bred by Alexandru Popescu from Marotinu, Dolj County, multiple national and Olympic champion in the 2025 season. Not strictly specialized in speed, middle distance, or long distance, his pigeons excel across distances ranging from 100 to 700 km.

The national trophy in All Round Old Birds was won by the cock RO-2023-0070841, with a total of 33.71 penalty points. Of the eight counted races, four were long-distance competitions, with releases from Antonești (525 km). In total, the champion accumulated 3,048 classified kilometers. In terms of pedigree, the cock descends from a breeder acquired from Alexandru Cazacu, carrying Koopman and Jan Hooymans bloodlines, and from a hen bred from Stănescu+Dobre pigeons, with origins in Koopman, Dirk van Dyck, and Rudi Diels lines. In the same season, the cock placed 3rd in the national team in the H–Old Birds category, confirming his status as a complete pigeon.

Vice Champion in Both Middle Distance and All Round

The cock RO-2023-0007761, raced by the Șut–Bondar tandem from Bihor, is national vice champion in both Middle Distance Old Birds and All Round Old Birds, finishing the All Round standard with 34.14 penalty points. He is also an Olympic representative in the All Round category, ranking 1st in the national team in the D–All Round Palmares category. The vice champion descends from a Gaby Vandenabeele cock and a hen with Hooymans and Schaerlaeckens origins, from Domenic Bedeleanu.

For Vlad Șut and Andrei Bondar, also national champions in Middle Distance Breeders in 2025, the season was a landmark one, especially considering the strategic changes they implemented. In 2025 they competed exclusively with widowhood cocks, returning to the classic system after experimenting the previous season with racing hens as well. The cocks were placed on widowhood two to three weeks before the first race and remained in this system throughout the entire season, which lasted over three months.

Regarding feeding, their strong point was the Gaby Vandenabeele (Beyers) mix, supplemented with Energy Kipp 4, a blend rich in hemp (approximately 50%), rapeseed, safflower, and hulled sunflower seeds. Between races, on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the cocks were taken to 77 km training sessions.

Ionuț Gagea, the Marathon Specialist on the All Round Old Birds Podium

Known primarily as a marathon specialist, Ionuț Gagea proved in 2025 that he can achieve top performances in the All Round Old Birds category as well. The cock RO-2023-2003313, aptly nicknamed “The All Round,” placed 3rd Nationally in All Round Old Birds with 50.72 penalty points, ranking in the same national position in All Round Palmares.

Alongside his marathon team, the fancier from Suceava annually prepares a small group (10 pigeons) for speed–middle distance and long distance, a strategy that has brought him several Breeders category trophies, including 1st National Ace Breeders Palmares 2 Years and the “Colonel Xenofon Roman” Trophy. In the first part of the season, the pigeons competed separately and were paired after the first middle-distance race. They laid eggs and incubated, and after the first long-distance race they were separated again, the method being adapted to the marathon racing schedule. Training around the loft intensified after the first long-distance race.

The cock’s performance is all the more valuable considering that he was not specifically prepared for the All Round category until the first long-distance race, yet he demonstrated consistent form whether raced on widowhood or paired.