In his comeback to the German national team at the World Cup in New Zealand, Leif Lampater won a bronze medal in the team pursuit. "We could not have done any better," the 32-year-old told radsport-news.com

The Olympics are approaching. After two missed participations, the German team finally secured their spot for Rio with a third place at the World Cup in New Zealand. After the convincing performance in Cambridge, national coach Sven Meyer can now plan for next year - first for the Worlds in early March in London and later for the big highlight in August in Brazil - and spur on the internal fight.

Eight riders are in contention for an Olympic ticket with the squad. One of the most surprising names is that of Leif Lampater. After eight years away from the team, the 32-year-old made a convincing comeback as he rode alongside Theo Reinhardt, Maximilian Beyer and Kersten Thiele. After an eighth place in qualifying, the quartet improved in the second round and then beat the Netherlands in the ride for bronze.

"We have achieved the maximum.  I am satisfied with my performance: Not outstanding, but good," said Lampater. He did his last World Cup for the German Cycling Federation in 2007. "I did not expect to again belong to the group of candidates for the Olympics. However, things have been very good recently – both from a sporting and a personal point of view," said Lampater who was third in the individual pursuit at the German Championships in Berlin last summer (with a time of 4:24.814). This was followed by talks with national coach Sven Meyer and Sports Director Patrick Moster. Since October 1, Lampater has again been part of the Sports Promotion Company as a Staff Sergeant and dreams of completing his career with an Olympic medal.

In 2004 he was a young rider in the German quartet that also included Robert Bartko, Guido Fulst and Christian Lademann and finished fourth at the Olympic Games in Athens. In the last few years, Lampater has been successful in Six Days. "I am a realist. Of course, the Olympics were always on my mind and eventually I ticked the box," Lampater reported.

He has celebrated nine Six-Day wins, most recently in January 2015 in Berlin together with Marcel Kalz. This winter, the multiple German champion is fully focused on the national team - without any Six-Days. "Sven Meyer has made a clear program. There is no right and no left. And I've shown that I'm serious," said Lampater. In the autumn race in Frankfurt in early October in Frankfurt, Lampater set a new personal recod in the individual pursuit, stopping the clock in in 4:20.960 minutes, and so confirmed that he is on track.

"With this performance, there was no way to overlook him. He has been fully integrated and is willing to accept our conditions so he deserves this chance. Leif is an asset for our team on the road to Rio 2016," Meyer said. Alongside Henning Bommel (32), he is by far the oldest rider in contention for the Games.

"Of course the competition has been fueled by my return. It's a new situation for everybody. I'm trying to integrate myself into the team and not to play the boss," said Lampater who will ride for the rad-net Rose team next season. "I hope that I can continue to improve my pursuit qualities in the professional environment," Lampater said. “I can still see a lot of potential and I hope that I can still ride for a couple of years at the highest level while also having fun." Third place at the World Cup in New Zealand was a first promising step.