"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.
The sustainable use of the BayArena seats removed as part of the current stadium upgrade has taken on a new dimension: Following on from numerous Bayer 04 fans receiving their ‘Undefeated Champions seats’ and various clubs and community organisations from Leverkusen and the wider region having collected the dismantled seats, Blau-Gelbe Kreuz e.V. also made their way to the BayArena recently. The German-Ukrainian aid organisation took away around 2,100 seats; in Ukraine, these will be used to upgrade the sports infrastructure of two clubs.
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Bayer 04 have transferred U19 midfielder Emmanuel Chigozie Owen to FC Utrecht in the Eredivisie.
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Bayer 04 Women have further bolstered their squad for the upcoming Google Pixel Bundesliga season with the signing of Justine Brandau from Feyenoord. The 23-year-old Dutch left-back has joined on a deal through to 30 June 2028.
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Bayer 04 Leverkusen have extended youngster Montrell Culbreath's contract once again. Having only signed a deal with the Bundesliga club until 30 June 2030 in January, still as an U19 player, the attacking midfielder, who's since established himself in the first-team squad, has penned a new contract valid until 30 June 2031. Culbreath joined the Werkself academy in 2023 and made 16 first-team appearances in the 2025/26 season in the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and Champions League, scoring one goal.
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