What a difference 12 months make in cycling. Nathan Haas has revealed to Velo News that the 2015 Tour Down Under winner and Hour Record Holder Rohan Dennis almost quit cycling last January after a bad crash at the Australian Road Race in January 2014.

“Rohan Dennis came [to the TDU] last year as last year’s team leader and had a huge preparation for nationals and had a crash and screwed up the start of his season, and soon after we talked on the phone and he told me that he thought he wanted to quit cycling,” admitted Haas, who himself was left bloody and bruised after a crash-marred stage 4 bunch sprint in Australia, thus ending his bid for a second straight top-five GC finish this year.

“That’s what he said on the phone, man,” re-asserted Haas “It was knee-jerk reaction to how bad it was. The point I’m trying to make is one year you start shit at a race and the next year you win it.”

Dennis confirmed Haas’ statements to Velo News on Thursday, saying it was all true.

“It was after my crash at nationals last year,” he continued. “I did everything right, I didn’t deviate from my program — either on or off the bike. I never went out, and I was in an altitude tent for eight weeks, 10 to 14 hours a day.”

“Everything came crashing down essentially when I went down on the bike,” Dennis said. “It was almost like all that emotion and all that effort, and then everything in a split second was all over.”

“I was lucky that I got a call from Haasy,” Dennis recalled. “I told him I didn’t know if I want to ride anymore and that if this is what cycling is all about — you do everything right and you get knocked in the return — I’m over it.’

“Obviously, that’s not how I feel now, but it was a very emotional time and I got caught up in the heat of the moment.”

12 months on and having conquered his home race and the Hour Record, he says if his season ended now he would be very happy, but he has more goals to focus on in 2015.

“Technically, yes, I could stop the season now and be happy, but I don’t think Andy Rihs or Jim Ochowicz would be very happy,” said Dennis jokingly of his new team’s owner and general manager.

“But I feel if you want to be successful at anything you can never be 100 percent satisfied. It’s sort of a sad reality that if you want to be truly successful in this sport, you can’t actually become content until you retire.”

The objective he has set for himself next is making BMC’s Tour de France roster, where he says he would be fully committed to supporting team leader Tejay van Garderen.

“I’ve obviously got my eyes on the Tour,” Dennis said. “The team has spoken to me about the opportunity of starting if I have the form, which is the question for anyone really that goes to the Tour."

“But if all goes well, there’s no reason why I wouldn’t be picked. I feel I could be useful in the team time trial on stage 9 and able to help out Tejay [van Garderen] because he is still the team’s No. 1 GC rider."

“Just to be there and actually complete the whole thing this year would be a huge goal for me,” he concluded. “And another reason to be happy that I didn’t quit last year.”