Cult Energy Pro Cycling’s 35 year-old, Michael Reihs will be a key figure on the Danish squad in 2015. Not only on but off the road as well as the go-to-guy for most of the young riders and for the new members of the Cult Energy family as well. We sat him down for an interview and here’s how it turned out:

“I started riding a little when I was 10. Like most boys, I played football and tried many other sports too. My dad was a former elite rider so the decision was pretty much in the cards early on. In my first race, I finished second so I knew immediately that I had a good chance of making it in the sport,” Reihs said.

When asked about when he turned professional, Reihs gave a smaller resume of the entire career he has had so far.

“Well, years passed and I was hustling my up through the ranks and to the top league in Denmark. I was young and didn’t have any obligations in Denmark so I went to Italy with another Danish rider to live out the dream. We got in touch with our national coach at the time, Jørgen Marcussen who hooked us up with a team who ran different tests on us. Maybe they thought I was a softy ‘cause I never heard from them again. Downcast and crestfallen, we returned to our homes in Denmark but a phone call from Jørgen with the news that a Swiss team was looking for a Dane kick-started my career.”

“I signed with the second division Phonak Hearing System team where I was given an opportunity to develop and I lived alone in Switzerland for two years starting my pro career at 21 years of age. I was now able to focus completely on training, resting and nothing else. I was then and still am very privileged to do what I love the most every day and that is a huge motivation – especially through these cold winter months of November and December where I do 3-4 hours a day five times a week on the road. January and February are even colder so naturally, I’m looking forward for some time in the sun during the January training camp.”

When asked about where he lives now, he lives on homesoil in Denmark together with his two children and his girlfriend.

“Today, I live in Silkeborg, Denmark where my girlfriend and I built our own house 3 years ago and we’re fortunate to have two boys; Fabian of 5 and Aston 2. When I’m off the bike, I spend most of my time with my family.  You don’t get to do that during the season so winter is well spent with them and friends outside the world of cycling.  It gets boring talking solely about racing and I enjoy discussing other things when I get a chance to do so."

Michael Reihs can now look forward to a role where he is expected to take decisions in a fairly quick way on the roads in order to make the best result as possible.

“I will continue doing what I did last year. I’ve been with Christa and Michael for a few years now and they dubbed me a culture bearer and they expect me to take the difficult and quick decisions on the road. I know the way Skelde (Michael) thinks and vice versa. This is our first pro season as a team but I think we have good opportunities of success. I’m confident that the management will put a good race program together for us and I’m eager as a rookie pro to return to the bigger races and I think we have the riders to achieve success," concludes Michael Reihs.

The team will kick off the season later this month in Mallorca.