What do professional cyclists do before a race day?

Put your feet up in the hotel room, watch TV, read, play a little on the cell phone.

Everyday life for traveling people in the professional circus.

There was nothing to suggest that April 30, 2016 would have such a lasting impact on Pieter Vanspeybrouck's life.

So he was lying there on a hotel bed - the next day, May 1st, he was supposed to be pedaling at the Taunusschleife Eschborn-Frankfurt.

The Belgian failed to notice that his roommate had stolen his cell phone and was looking for pictures of sociable women in the area through a dating app.

A woman from Frankfurt showed a virtual interest in Vanspeybrouck, and people wrote back and forth.

She visited him in Belgium, he came to visit the Main on a race-free weekend.

Five years later, the now 34-year-old competes in the Frankfurt cycle race this Sunday as a kind of unknown local hero.

Because Vanspeybrouck has been living in Bad Soden-Neuenhain for three years - with his Hessian wife and their two children.

Plenty of thump in the legs

The Taunusschleife is now back from its training area to a race track.

“I love the race, I love the Taunus,” he says in what is now very good German.

For an all-rounder who is used by his Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert team, which is part of the first-class WorldTour, primarily for helper tasks in one-day races, this is a great location advantage.

Especially since he and John Degenkolb from Oberursel form an active training group up to three times a week. A Taunus team with plenty of oomph in their legs. Degenkolb also moved to the region because of love. By the way: Vanspeybrouck achieved one of the best results of his career on May 1st, 2016 with fourth place. With plenty of love in your legs, so to speak.