Bocholt currently remains at the top of the STADTRADELN rankings and is honouring its strongest teams

The town of Bocholt remains at the top of the leaderboard in this year's STADTRADELN campaign and is once again leading the category for towns with 50,000 to 99,999 inhabitants, having currently clocked up 721,130 kilometres. A total of 4,067 active cyclists in 209 teams took to their bikes, representing a 34 per cent increase in participants compared with last year.

Head of Urban Planning Dave Welling, Sascha Terörde from the Climate Protection Unit, City Marketing Managing Director Ludger Dieckhues and City Brand Manager Karsten Tersteegen have now honoured the most successful teams and school classes and presented prizes to other cyclists selected at random from this year's campaign.

"Cycling is as much a part of Bocholt as the beech tree and our proximity to the Netherlands. "Cycling isn't just a contrived promotional theme for us, but a way of life and therefore an important part of Bocholt's identity"," said Ludger Dieckhues, Managing Director of the Bocholt Economic Development and City Marketing Association, expressing his delight at the successful conclusion of the event during the awards ceremony.

Despite changeable weather during the second and third weeks of the campaign, the people of Bocholt demonstrated remarkable stamina, completing a total of 73,073 journeys. Once again this year, the town extends special thanks to the Mariengymnasium, which has confirmed its outstanding performance from previous years. After a close neck-and-neck race with the St. Josef Gymnasium during the first half of the three-week campaign period, the Mariengymnasium ultimately secured the top spot with ease.

In recognition of this achievement, Dave Welling and Sascha Terörde presented two certificates to the school. With 640 active cyclists, the Mariengymnasium not only fielded the largest team - for which it received the gold award - but also increased the number of active participants by around 50 per cent compared with the previous year. With a total of 90,489.1 kilometres and an average per-capita distance of 141.4 kilometres, the school also secured the award for the best team performance.

The school's younger year groups played a key role in this success, with their top classes being honoured with certificates and prize money. Class 5b won the gold certificate and prize money of 500 euros for a total distance of 11,194.1 kilometres and an impressive 183.5 kilometres per pupil. Silver went to Class 5a, which covered 11,001.3 kilometres and received 300 euros. Class 6a, which had already won gold the previous year as Class 5a, secured the bronze certificate and 200 euros with a total of 8,876 kilometres.

In addition to the school achievements, three special prizes were awarded to teams of more than five people, each of which received a barbecue hamper worth 200 euros. In the corporate category, the prize went to Flender. Led by team captain Doris Bush, 90 participants covered a total of 25,751 kilometres. In the families' category, the te Wilde family came out on top; the five of them covered a total distance of 2,667 kilometres, which equates to 533.4 kilometres per person; team captain Wolfgang te Wilde accepted the prize. In the clubs and associations category, the "AHRadler" from DJK 97/30 Lowick came out on top. The cyclists achieved a total distance of 2,432 kilometres, with an average of 486.5 kilometres per person. The team of veteran cyclists turned up in full force for the prize-giving ceremony.

In addition, 40 prizes were raffled off amongst all active participants, including vouchers for the Inselbad Bahia leisure pool as well as practical cycling accessories such as air pumps, helmets and panniers, which were presented to the lucky winners today in the market square. Karsten Tersteegen, the city's brand manager at the Economic Development Agency, sums up STADRADELN 2026: "A credible city brand is created through what people do and experience together. More than 4,000 participants in this year's STADTRADELN send a clear message: in Bocholt, a love of cycling meets a strong, active urban community.""

"The fact that such a result was achieved despite the occasionally adverse weather conditions, and that a total of 34 per cent more cyclists took an active part, is also a strong positive sign from a climate protection perspective of the importance cycling holds in Bocholt," adds Sascha Terörde from the Climate Protection Unit.