"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.
Márton Szép from the Bayer 04 Leverkusen U19 team is moving back to his home country with immediate effect to join ETO FC, the current leaders of the top flight in Hungary.
Show more
The Werkself host Bayern Munich at the BayArena on matchday 26 in the 2025/26 Bundesliga season. The match is on Saturday, 14 March, with the kick-off at 15:30 CET. Information on ticket sales.
Show more
Werkself TV shows the highlights of Bayer 04's 1-1 draw at Borussia Mönchengladbach on Matchday 21 of the 2025/26 Bundesliga season...
Show more
Bayer 04’s four-game winning run in all competitions came to an end with a 1-1 draw away at Borussia Mönchengladbach on Bundesliga Matchday 21. Yannik Engelhardt scored early for the hosts, but an own goal from Philipp Sander brought the Werkself back level before the break.
Show more
Werkself-TV shows the highlights of the Bayer 04 women's 0-1 loss at Eintracht Frankfurt on the 17th matchday of the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga 2025/26.
Show more
