+04 0725 928 653
+04 0725 928 653
This is the second consecutive year that the majority of pigeon fanciers from the Oltenia Province have been competing along the Bulgaria-Greece route. Unlike the 2024 season, this year Oltenia fanciers competed together starting from the very first marathon stage, with the release taking place in the town of Pyrgos (Greece).
The Pyrgos marathon race, the first marathon stage of the 2025 season for Oltenia pigeon fanciers flying the Bulgaria-Greece route, began on the morning of June 23rd, when at 06:27 the pigeons were released. The stage brought together pigeons and fanciers from all five counties of Oltenia (Mehedinți, Gorj, Dolj, Olt, and Vâlcea), with 5,621 pigeons entered and 588 fanciers participating. As expected, the race proved to be very challenging, with the pigeons facing strong headwinds over more than half the course. The difficulty was further increased by the heatwave and the mountain ranges along the route, with the Balkan Mountains being a real challenge for the pigeons.
Ionuț Oprișe (GJ), Winner of 1st Place Overall
Due to the geographical layout of the five participating counties, the race distances varied significantly for the fanciers who entered pigeons in the Pyrgos marathon stage. For example, in Dolj or Mehedinți, the distances were under 800 km, while fanciers from Gorj or Vâlcea had pigeons flying between 800 and 860 km. Even under these conditions, arrivals were recorded on the very first day of the race in each participating county. The winning pigeon came from Gorj—thus from the second distance zone—and belongs to fancier Ionuț Oprișe from Târgu-Jiu. Moreover, the winner is a yearling, cock, with the ring number RO-2024-0415978, and its arrival at 19:43:13 was truly spectacular. The average speed over the 837 km was only 1,051.92 m/min, highlighting once again the toughness of the race.
1st Place in the Fancier Ranking – A Family Affair
After securing 1st place in the pigeon ranking, the Gorj branch can also boast the 1st place in the general fancier ranking—thus claiming the most important titles in the competition. This achievement was truly a "family affair," as it was accomplished by spouses Alexandra and Mădălin Chireță from Târgu-Cărbunești, along with Alexandra’s father, Alexandru Staicu, forming the team “Alexandra S Team 777+Mădălin+Father.” They were the only fanciers in the entire competition to have four pigeons arrive on the first evening, at a distance of 828 km. Two of their team pigeons ranked 34th and 40th overall, and 16th and 18th in the county ranking.
A True Provincial Marathon
Although not many pigeons arrived on the first day of the Pyrgos race, a few positive conclusions can be drawn. First, the 74 pigeons that reached their lofts by the evening of the first day came, somewhat unexpectedly, from all five participating counties. Compared to the 2024 season, when marathon stage distances were shorter, arrivals at this first 2025 race were significantly better—more numerous and more spectacular. The provisional 1st place changed several times until Ionuț Oprișe’s pigeon arrived, and perhaps more notably, the pigeons temporarily occupying 1st place came from different counties. While 1st place was ultimately won in Gorj, 2nd place went to Mehedinți, and 3rd place to Dolj. A fancier from Vâlcea took 12th place, and one from Olt came in 13th. This shows that every participant had a real chance to win the race!
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