16 clubs registered for the relay. They start on Kaiser-Wilhelm-Allee (in front of the Bayer casino) with a run to the Rhine and the the relay baton is handed on to a swimmer who swims the Rhine upstream and then on to a cyclist. The cycle race via Bürrig goes to Bahnhof Küppersteg, followed by a runner and then another cyclist. That is the last of the five participants to reach their target of the velodrome in Wiesdorf.
Velodrome? Yes, where the building of the employment agency in Leverkusen stands today was the sportsground of BV Wiesdorf 100 years ago. And there was a velodrome added to that ground. It is of historical significance for Bayer 04 as in 1928 athletes from the Wiesdorf boxing club and FV Leverkusen, the breakaway football department of TuS Leverkusen, met on the field to play a bit of handball. From there came the idea of forming a club together. That led to the Sportvereinigung Wiesdorf-Leverkusen and then to SV Bayer 04 Leverkusen in 1935.
After the relay on 12 July 1925 there was a handball match – also on the pitch of BV Wiesdorf – and a cycle race to finish. The spectators have enough to watch and listen to as a concert was held during the race.
The winners were honoured in the garden of the recreation house at 19:30 with the social part of the day. Of course, the organisers hope the weather god plays long and that it doesn't rain as the evening event would have to be moved into the ballroom at the recreation house in the event of rain.
And that's the agenda for the week. Every day there is sporting entertainment. TuS Leverkusen ensure that the sports week was limited in terms of quantity but improved in terms of quality: sometimes less is more. The experience from the previous year appears to make it advisable to avoid fragmentation through a too rapid succession of events. That also avoids athletes not giving too much in several events thus denying them performing in their usual form of their main sporting activity. Back then it was usual to do different sports with a cyclist also being a runner or a football player. As a journalist wrote 100 years ago, "it doesn't help us if hundreds of sports people toil away just for a change or to drive out boredom for the spectators, the sports week should be an appeal to everybody to help with this great work. It is organised with the intention of turning spectators into competitors."
The Wiesdorfer Sportwoche lasted from 12 July to 19 July 2025 and entertained people in and around Wiesdorf.
