In the province of Moldova, Suceava County organized, together with Botoșani County, the first marathon stage of this season, with an important number at the start: 21,702 pigeons and 777 fanciers. The launch took place from Jonawa, Lithuania, at 06:05, on 11-Jun 2022. After about 9 hours and 30 minutes of flight, the fastest pigeons reached their destination, the winners in the general rankings, both pigeons and fanciers being from Suceava.

Cezar Hîrleț

The lucky winner of this first marathon stage of the two counties this season is a pigeon fancier from Rădăuți, Suceava, named Cezar Hîrleț. Caesar, at 15:39:26, was trampled by the hen with the 1127663-2020 series, she developing a speed, in the 805 aerial kilometers, of 1,401.80 m / min, and thus she settled at the top of the ranking without give another bird a chance to dethrone her. The father of the winning hen is a combination between the lines of Jelle Jellema and Van Der Wegen, while her mother is a 100% hen Gaby Vandenabeele.

Romică Babias

On the podium, on the second place in the general ranking of the stage, arrives the yearling cock with the series 0566643-2021 of Romică Babias, from the same locality Rădăuți, with a speed of 1,397.77 m / min. Originally, the young pigeon is a 100% Frank Zwiers bird, his father being the grandson of MadMax (1st place international Marathon 2019), and his mother is the daughter of Kratos (1st place national Agen) x Hestia (1st place national Bordeaux) . Romică competed his pigeons this season using widowhood method, hoping that the flight group will be in maximum shape at the first stage of the marathon, and he succeeded.
For the young pigeon fancier Iulian Dari, from Horodnic de Sus locality, Suceava county, his hen with the series 0461528-2019 provokes a really pleasant surprise, arriving the 3rd place on the launch, she developing in flight an average speed of 1,371.84 m / min. This hen had to fly at this stage a distance of 804 kilometers. Iulian, for personal reasons, stayed a few years away from pigeon sport, but not from pigeons. The racing pigeons that he took care of all this time while he could not participate in the races, now reward him with this important result. The hen is a combination between the pigeons from the old lines that Iulian Dari cultivated in the past.

Mirăuţă from Suceava, winner of the fanciers ranking

Iulian Dari`s pigeon

In the ranking of fanciers, things are as follows: Daniel Mirăuță from Volovăț, Suceava County, imposes himself in the ranking of fanciers, occupying the 1st place overall in this fierce competition with a small group of pigeons. He engages 11 pigeons at this stage and manages to rank 4 of them, the first three arrivals occupying such good places in the general ranking, that they manage to climb the team on the first step of the podium. The detail that makes this story really beautiful is that all three pigeons on the team are yearlings. The yearling with the series 0333535-2021 arrives first in the race in Daniel’s loft and occupies the 30th place on the launch in the pigeon ranking. The father of this cock is reproduced from a of Jos Joosen cock (grandson 1st place international Marseille), paired with an original hen Chris Hebberecht (niece “Ike” 1st place national Long distance, Belgium). Her mother is a niece of the famous TopStar, of Raoul and Xavier Verstraete, purchased from Marius Andrei. The second pigeon to arrive is the yearling hen with the series 0333570-2021. It ranks 205th in the overall standings and is reproduced from a cock from Gelu Vochin, being a combination of Chris v.d. Velden with Etienne Meirlaen. The mother of this young hen is a daughter of the cock “Berliner”, who flew for Daniel Mirăuță in 2020 to the western route, in the classic national flight Berlin, where she obtained the 8th place in the county ranking. This cock was mated with the original hen Chris Hebberecht. The third pigeon to arrive from the team in the Suceava aviary is a direct son of “Berliner” (grandson Cas international Pau, Joost Desmeyter x niece Rudy & Champion), paired with the same hen Chris Hebberecht, female who is mother or grandmother to all three pigeons who arrived first in the team, proving its value as a good breeder.

Daniel Mirăuță

Cristian Gagea could not miss the top of the first marathon stage of this season, he being one of the strongest and constant pigeon fancier champions of his county. At this stage he engaged 61 pigeons and ranked 27 of them. Following these rankings, he ranks 2nd in the overall ranking in the fancier category. The three pigeons that helped him achieve this result are his three favorites, and in the order of arrival after their names are the following pigeons: “Porthos”, “Athos”, “Blue Pearl”. “Porthos”, the first pigeon to arrive in Cristian’s team, has the series 0190068-2019 and is a star in his loft, in his province and even at national level, he occupying the 13th place nationally in the category Marathon Ace 2 years ranking at the end of the 2021 season. this stage ranks 134th in the competition. His father is a 100% Noel Peiren cock, purchased from Cătălin Bocăneț and who in 2014 ranks 5th nationally in the Marathon ace Yearlings category. “Porthos” ‘s mother is a 100% Frank Zwiers hen, being the daughter of Golden Future. “Athos”, the cock with the series 0190003-2019, the second pigeon to reach the team, is also a star of national caliber, which in 2020 occupies the 1st county place in the category Marathon ace yearlings and the 6th place nationally in the same category . At this stage he occupies the 190th place on the launch, and as origins he is a good brother with “Porthos”. The hen with the series 0190061-2019, is the third pigeon to arrive in the team in Cristian Gagea’s loft. This wonderful hen occupies the 306th place in the general ranking of this stage, and in 2020 she was the national vice-champion in the Marathon Grand Prix Yearlings category and also the 8th national place Marathon ace Yearlings.

Cristian Gagea

Iacob Boca, from Cajvana, Suceava County, lived his pigeon dream this weekend because, at this stage, he sent a batch of 32 pigeons in the race of which he ranked 12 and managed to obtain the 3rd place in the general ranking stage of the fanciers category. Interestingly, on the same day, at the Bialystok long distance stage, he engged a batch of 20 pigeons, ranked 9th of them and finally won the same 3rd place in the overall standings of the stage in the fanciers category out of a total of 10,133 pigeons and 517 fanciers. Such successful pigeon fanciers in one day give you the strength and confidence to continue the season in style. At the Jonawa marathon stage for Iacob, the first pigeon to arrive on the team is also the first pigeon to arrive on the loft.

Iacob Boca

He is the cock with the series 0803346-2019 and occupies in the general ranking the 4th place in the pigeons category. The second pigeon to arrive on the team is the hen with the series 0794481-2020, she ranks 32nd at the launch. At the same time, she is the second pigeon to arrive in the loft, which expresses the fancier’s confidence in these pigeons. The hen with the series 1127409-2020, is the third pigeon to arrive at the team and occupies the 643rd place on the launch, developing an average speed of 1,013.46 m / min. in the 821 kilometers he had to cover to get home. These 3 pigeons from the team are based on the hen with the series 0538694-2011, which, in 2014, brings the owner the first national trophy, obtaining the 3rd national place in the Old birds Marathon norm category. Iacob Boca is flying his pigeons this season using widowhood system.

Cezar Aţigancei, first place in Botoşani county

Cezar Ațigăncei

In the ranking of Botoșani county, a county that participates in this stage with a number of 5,800 pigeons and 178 fanciers, Cezar Ațigăncei from Cătămărăști-Deal is imposed. He ranks 1st with the cock widow series 1000417-2020. This handsome cock has developed an average speed of 1,154.08 m / min. The air distance he had to cover was 823,265 kilometers. As origins, the father of this cock is the son of the famous “004” of the Măgirescu-Ojog-Dorneanu team, and his mother is the niece of Gheorghe Preda’s “Olimpicu” from Olt County.
The 2nd place in the ranking of Botoșani county is occupied by the old bird, a hen with the series 0333442-2019 of Ciprian Cozma from Botoșani city. This experienced hen stepped on the hatch at 18:10:41 of the first day of the competition, covering the 825 kilometers with an average speed of 1,137, 22 m / min.
The pigeon fancier Cornel Gheorghe Furtună from Hîrlău locality climbed on the 3rd place in the county with his bold and determined yearling cock series 0625227-2021, who manages to defeat 5,796 pigeons, direct opponents, from the same county. This young cock travels the 862 kilometers with an average speed of 1,128.24 m / min.