Algarve Great Derby Summer 2026. Semi-Final

SEMI-FINAL

ALGARVE GREAT DERBY TEAM:

𝗥𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗼 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 – 𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶-𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹: 𝗔 𝗩𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘆

Hello everyone. Ringo here.

This is not an easy report to write.

Our 330 km Semi-Final became much harder than anyone expected. From 2,448 of us basketed, only 438 made it home on the first day. At report time, 1,210 of us are back in the loft.

As pigeons, we don’t understand weather forecasts or all the decisions made before a race. What we do know is how much work our trainers put into preparing us for every challenge.

Throughout this season, they gradually increased our distances, taught us to deal with difficult conditions and even prepared us for flying in the heat. This has been an unusual year, with exceptionally high temperatures in September, and there were already some difficult decisions to make before this race. Until now, those decisions worked well for us.

This time, despite all the preparation, things didn’t go as expected.

The detailed weather analysis and explanation from our team has already been shared separately. What matters to us now is that more of our friends keep finding their way home.

To those still out there: keep going. The loft is waiting for you.

Three of us arrived together, leading the race and clearly ahead of the rest of the field. After 330 demanding kilometres, only 8.58 seconds separated the three of us at the clock!

𝗦𝗲𝗺𝗶-𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 – 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟯