Also in his fourth year at Giant-Alpecin Georg Preidler showed that he is not only a reliable domestique. He impressed with an aggressive driving style in the Giro d`Italia and the Tour de France. "From the Ardennes classics I was always in good form all the way until the Tour de France and was able to show myself with great results," the Austrian told radsport-news.com.

After using a few races at the start of the season "to get going," Preidler scored his first result at Paris-Nice where he got a 10th place. At the Giro d`Italia, the 26-year-old was in the top 10 three times, with the highlight being third on the challenging 14th stage that Esteban Chaves won ahead of Steven Kruijswijk. But Preidler was not totally satisfied with this.

"This third place in the queen stage was definitely a highlight but also a great disappointment. If you are in front, you want to win," said the Austrian who had attacked too early. “It was painful to be caught on the finish line,” he admitted.

In his second Tour de France, Preidler also went on the offensive without being rewarded with a top result.

After the Tour of France, the season of the Giant-Alpecin pro was not over yet. The Olympic Games road race and time trial were on Preidler's program. In Rio de Janeiro, however, Preidler did not play a role in either of the two disciplines, and in the subsequent events such as the two Canadian Worldtour races in Quebec and Montreal as well as the Eneco Tour, he was also anonymous.

After being able to "improve in all areas" according to his own data, Preidler hopes for another performance leap in the coming year. "I want to be one of the top riders," he said of his ambitious plan. "I am not missing much and I am sure that I will show something in the next few years."