Even though a 10th place in the Tour of Austria stood out as the best result for Stefan Denifl (IAM) in 2015, the season was a great success for the 28-year-old. After a long injury break, Denifl was back in the peloton. “I have achieved my goals: to be without pain again and thus have overcome the knee problem, and to get a contract for 2016 with IAM,” Denifl told radsport-news.com.

After an almost endless break, the Austrian made his comeback in May at the Bayern Rundfahrt. "It was a brutal time, eleven months without racing and for a long time, no one knew what caused my knee problems came and so it was impossible to find any kind of  therapeutic approach," said Denifl who was back on the bike on April 1. "From then on it went better and better," he reported.

In the Tour de Suisse in mid-June, the IAM rider was even on the final podium, because he won the mountains classification of the Tour de France dress rehearsal. He narrowly missed out on a stage victory in the mountaintop finish at the Rettenbach glacier after a long breakaway.

That made Denifl optimistic for the highlight of his season, the Tour of Austria. He could not go for the overall victory in his home race but with a tenth place you can again count on him in the future – even if he didn’t achieve any notable results in the second half of the season. "The remaining races were a bit mixed, but with the short preparation it was probably normal. In any case, they were definitely important race kilometers for 2016,” Denifl said.

He will again be riding for the Swiss IAM team whom he praised massively: "I am still very grateful that my team did not lose faith in me and have me lots of freedom during my comeback.”

This is made even more impressive by the fact that he was "not his old self on the bike" in his comeback season. "But with a normal preparation over the winter, I should be back at my usual level in 2016. In any case, the knee works properly again," said Denifl who will still spend time with his physiotherapist. “One injury story like this should be enough for one career.”

When asked about his goals for 2016, the Austrian pointed to the spring classics and the Olympics. "Everything else may come. However, I look forward to the season and have a good feeling that I will be able to achieve the successes of 2014 again," Denifl said.