"Hats off to everybody. We had a common target and we've done it," said head coach Heiko Herrlich Following the arrival in the underground car park at the BayArena. The first leg that took the Black and Reds 90 kilometres along the Moselle to Koblenz on Sunday, was followed on Monday by a stage along the Rhine to Bonn (85 kilometres) and the final stretch on Tuesday morning from the former capital of West Germany to the BayArena covering 54 kilometres. "Perhaps it wasn't too strenuous for those members of the squad who are used to riding mountain bikes but many others had to push themselves to their limits – It was a completely new experience to be on a bike for so long," said Herrlich.
In addition to working on basic stamina the bike ride also helped improve the group dynamic in the team: "With such an unfamiliar workload you not only have to keep pushing yourself inwardly but also as a group as its very difficult on your own," explained the 46 year-old football coach.
And the skipper Lars Bender also enthusiastic about the 'Tour de Werkself' as a way to start the pre-season: "Activities like that are obviously great for integrating new players: if you spend a couple of hours together on bikes and travel in a six or seven man group in single file You need a lot of confidence. At the end of the day, you have to be able to rely on the man in front - that he travels a decent pace, gives you the right signals and that helps build confidence." The 'mountain trial'on Monday which involve the Team Werkself conquering one of the local vineyards Suited the 29-year-old defensive all-rounder down to the ground: "when you have to climb a mountain like that and rather teammates are pushing you from the top then that helps to promote sense of community. It was definitely very good."
The Herrlich charges have two days off on Wednesday and Thursday and that gives them a chance to recover from their "pains in their backsides and thighs" as Lars Bender reported. The next stage of the pre-season follows on Friday (16.00 CET), Saturday (10.30 CET and 16.00 CET) and Sunday (10.30 CET) on the training ground. Jonathan Tah, Julian Baumgartlinger and Aleksandar Dragovic are set to join the rest of the squad following their international commitments that led them to have an additional week's holiday.
Four Bayer 04 players are in action at the 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations being played in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January 2026: Eliesse Ben Seghir for the hosts, Edmond Tapsoba with Burkina Faso, Ibrahim Maza for Algeria and Christian Kofane with Cameroon. Updates on the AFCON matches involving Werkself players...
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Bayer 04 Women finish 2025 with the first game of the second half of the Google Pixel Bundesliga season as they host defending champions and league leaders Bayern Munich at the Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion on Monday. Kick-off is at 18:00 CET. Here’s all you need to know ahead of the Matchday 14 encounter.
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The Werkself may have the festive season off, but four players will still be in action as they compete at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. Eliesse Ben Seghir will open the 35th edition of the tournament with hosts Morocco on Sunday, 21 December. Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso), Ibrahim Maza (Algeria) and Christian Kofane (Cameroon) are also going for continental glory.
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The media wanted to know if Malik Tillman had thought back in September and the team’s indifferent start to the season that they would go into the winter break in third place with 29 points from 15 games. His answer was short and clear: “Honestly, yes, because I simply believe in this team.” That team had just won 3-1 at RB Leipzig, who hadn’t dropped a single point at home previously this season. Here’s all the round-up from the game in our Werkself Review.
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