The German Cycling Federation or BDR (in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Bund Deutscher Radfahrer'') is the national

governing body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...

cycle racing Cycle, cycles, or cyclic may refer to: Anthropology and social sciences * Cyclic history, a theory of history * Cyclical theory, a theory of American political history associated with Arthur Schlesinger, Sr. * Social cycle, various cycles in s ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The BDR is a member of the

UCI UCI most commonly refers to: * University of California, Irvine, a public university in Irvine, California, United States * Union Cycliste Internationale, the world governing body for the sport of cycling UCI may also refer to: * Uganda Cancer In ...

and the UEC.

History

The BDR was first created in 1884 in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, only to be subsequently dissolved in 1933 after the

Enabling Act of 1933 The Enabling Act of 1933 ( German: ', officially titled ' ), was a law that gave the German Cabinet—most importantly, the chancellor, Adolf Hitler—the power to make and enforce laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or President Pa ...

, which legally gave Hitler dictatorial control of Germany. The '' Deutscher Radfahrer-Verband'' (DRV), a unit (Fachamt) of the Nazi Sports Body took over, until it was disbanded on May 31, 1945, for being the branch of a Nazi organization. The BDR was re-established on 21 November 1948. In

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

the cycling section of the Deutscher Sportausschuss, the DDR's sports body, was established in 1946. In 1957 it was renamed ''Deutscher Radsport-Verband der DDR'' (DRSV), "East German Cycling Federation", which was responsible for the sport until the merger of both countries on 7 December 1990. Since 2005, the president of the BDR has been former Federal Minister of Defence Rudolf Scharping. Between 2001 and 2004, former track-and-field athlete Sylvia Schenk led the BDR.

Work

The BDR issues racing licences, organises training for athletes and coaches, undertakes youth work, and oversees cycle races in Germany. It works regionally through a network of local associations. The BDR is also an advocacy organisation, lobbying for the interests of both sporting and leisure cyclists, although it does not aim to represent cyclists who use their bicycles on the road for transportation.

Disciplines

The BDR covers almost all disciplines of cycle sport:

road racing Road racing is a North American term to describe motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held on a race track, closed circuit—generally, a purpose-built racing facility—or on a street circuit that uses temporarily c ...

track racing Track racing is a form of motorcycle racing where teams or individuals race opponents around an unpaved oval track. There are differing variants, with each variant racing on a different surface type. The most common variant is Speedway which h ...

cyclo-cross Cyclo-cross (cyclocross, CX, cyclo-X or cross) is a form of bicycle racing. Races typically take place in the autumn and winter (the international or "World Cup" season is October–February), and consist of many laps of a short (2.5–3.5&nb ...

artistic cycling Artistic cycling is a form of competitive indoor cycling in which athletes perform tricks (called exercises) for points on specialized, Fixed-gear bicycle, fixed-gear bikes in a format similar to ballet or gymnastics. The exercises are perform ...

cycle ball Cycle-ball, also known as "radball" (from German language, German), is a sport similar to association football played on bicycles. The two people on each team ride a fixed gear bicycle with no brakes or cogset, freewheel. The ball is controlle ...

cycle polo Cycle polo, bicycle polo, or bike polo (''polo-vélo'' in French; ''Radpolo'' in German) is a team sport, similar to traditional polo, except that bicycles are used instead of horses. There are two versions of the sport: Hardcourt Bike Polo and ...

BMX racing BMX racing is a type of bicycle racing which features BMX riders sharing a short single-lap circuit or point-to-point course, with multiple banked corners, jumps and rollers. The format of BMX was derived from motocross racing, and sanctione ...

BMX freestyle Freestyle BMX is bicycle motocross stunt riding on BMX bikes. It is an extreme sport descended from BMX racing that consists of four disciplines: street, park, trails, and flatland. The sport made its Olympic debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics. E ...

, bike trial and

mountain bike racing Mountain bike racing (shortened MTB or ATB racing) is the competitive cycle sport discipline of mountain biking held on off-road terrain. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) recognised the discipline relatively late in 1990, when it sanctione ...

. In addition to the sporting disciplines, leisure cycling is also covered, including cycle touring.

Regional associations

* Badischer Radsportverband e.V (

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

) * Bayerischer Radsportverband e.V. (

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

) * Berliner Radsportverband e.V. (

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

) * Brandenburgischer Radsportverband e.V. (

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

) * Bremer Radsportverband e. V. (

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

) * Radsportverband Hamburg e.V. (

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

) * Hessischer Radfahrerverband e.V. (

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major hist ...

) * Radsportverband Mecklenburg-Vorpommern e.V. (

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; ), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-east of Germany. Of the country's sixteen states, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ranks 14th in population; it covers an are ...

) * Radsportverband Niedersachsen e.V. (

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

) * Radsportverband Nordrh.-Westfalen e.V. (

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

) * Radsportverband Rheinland-Pfalz e.V. (

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

) * Saarländischer Radfahrerbund e.V. (

Saarland Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...

) * Sächsischer Radfahrerbund e.V. (

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

) * Landessportverb. Radsp. Sachsen-Anhalt e.V. (

Saxony-Anhalt Saxony-Anhalt ( ; ) is a States of Germany, state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of and has a population of 2.17 million inhabitants, making it the List of German states ...

) * Radsportverband Schleswig-Holstein e.V. (

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

) * Thüringer Radsportverband e.V. (

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

) * Württembergischer Radsportverband e.V. (

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

)

Other

The '' Bundesradfahrerdenkmal'' (federal monument to cyclists) is located in the Kurpark of

Bad Schmiedeberg Bad Schmiedeberg () is a small town in the Wittenberg (district), district of Wittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It lies within the Düben Heath Nature Park. History The town was first mentioned in 1206 as ''Smedeberg''. In 1350, it was grant ...

External links

German Cycling Federation official website
National members of the European Cycling Union

Cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

Cycle racing in Germany Sports organizations established in 1948 {{Germany-sport-org-stub