Longdistance Champions – Racing Team CN

2 x 1. National in 3 years!
Behind the Danish loft ‘Racing Team CN’ are two Danish friends, Niels Johansen and Carsten Petersen, who have a beautiful loft located in the small town of Dalby, just outside Haslev in Denmark. Haslev is situated at an island approx. 40 km. south of the Danish Capital Copenhagen.

In recent years, the team has further specialized in focusing on longdistance and marathon races: All breeding, planning, feeding, dispatching, and subsequent sorting are centered on performing well in the Nationals in these races. Especially in breeding and reinforcement for the breeding loft, there has been an emphasis on finding pigeons that can stay in the air all day, and if they do not return in the evening, at least make it home by the next morning. This has been quite a transformation of “old familiar virtues” within the sport, with many races and strict sorting of the pigeons based on results. Now, the focus is on fewer flights but with increased length, ensuring that the pigeons are physically fit upon their return after many hours in the air.

The loft can accommodate a total of 48 pairs of racing pigeons, of which about half must be one-year-olds each year. The pigeons are raced using the natural system and are often paired up so they can be sent together in the same races in a good nestposition. The team’s one-year-old pigeons are expected to prove their worth from a National longdistance race to ensure that their homing ability and endurance are sufficient to survive the winter. Pigeons that are two years old and older are prepared primarily for participation in marathon flights, which means they do not race many times during a season.

The pigeon stock has been refined through breeding and sorting for longdistance and Marathon. The breeding loft of the team is only focused on breeding for long distance and Marathon races, primarily working with pigeons from 1) the Belgian longdistance icon Etienne Meirlaen 2) descendants of International and National winning pigeons from Barcelona via Jo & Raf Herbots, and in recent years from 3) the Dutch Barcelona winning lofts PWA Walter van der Meulen and Jacky de Bruine. With these lines, both family and crossbreeding are done.

The team is constantly working to gain new inspiration and improve year after year. Nothing is perfect; everything can (and should) be continuously improved. Each year, the team embarks on an inspiration trip to Belgium/Holland lasting about a week. These trips have created connections and room for some really good friendships that otherwise might not have been possible. The strong friendships within the sport mean a lot to the team and allow them to stay in touch with developments in pigeon racing.

In recent years, the team has been able to celebrate excellent results over the long distances. In the 2025 season, they were right at the top in all three Danish marathon races: 1st National from Völkningen (Munich), 4th National from Baden Baden, and 4th National from Rouen – impressive National results and with several pigeons placed at the very top in all three races. In the 2023 season, they also won 1st National from Dresden with the hen Dan 0192-22-3445. She became national winner out of 2.109 pigeons, finishing with a lead of a full 11 minutes over the next pigeon.

The national winner returned on a day when the team was already in high spirits. Late the evening before, the team had clocked a pigeon home from Rouen, 987 km away, at the day of liberation at 23:05, with the pigeon returning in darkness and heavy rain. Two fantastic performances in the same weekend, demonstrating the quality of the loft and their pigeons.

This year’s National Winner from Munich, Dan 0192-23-177, is a cousin of their National Winner from Dresden. Both winning pigeons share the same father – the cock “Amazing Monar” from Etienne Meirlaen, who is a direct son of Etienne’s National Winner “Monar.” “Monar” himself won 1st International from Narbonne in 2011 among 12,605 pigeons and later became the foundation sire of a long line of top pigeons at Etienne’s loft. In the 2025 season, Etienne Meirlaen had two National Winners, both from Dax and from Narbonne, with “Monar” as the foundation sire of both winners. “Amazing Monar” has truly proven to be an outstanding breeding pigeon for the team.

For the race from Munich, the team had entered 12 pigeons, most of which were in really good form. During the afternoon, the excitement steadily grew, as the team expected pigeons to arrive home in the evening. The first clocking in the country was on South Funen at 19:21, and based on this clocking, a pigeon in Dalby around 20:30 would be considered very good.

However, it wasn’t long time of waiting before a pigeon appeared in the air, and to their great joy, it was their two-year-old cock – Dan 0192-23-177 – which landed and was registered home at 19:34 with a speed of 1,148 mpm. After a hug and a high five, it really sank in for both Niels and Carsten that this clocking had to be very good! And that proved to be the case in the hours that followed. Nationally, the next pigeon arrived about 30 minutes after “177,” meaning that he must have flown a long distance completely on his own.

The winning pigeon “177” was sent to the race while sitting on eggs of about 10 days and was in excellent condition both at departure and upon return. “177” became an impressive National Winner with a lead of a full 30 minutes to the next pigeon in the country.

Competing at the longest distances has brought the team much joy. For them, it is a great pleasure to see pigeons return home either during the evening or early the next day, and with the results of the 2025 season in mind, the 2026 season looks very promising.

Super results from this team – and we are sure that they will be back aiming for a new 1st National in the coming years!
Congratulations!!