Taylor Phinney of BMC has revealed he passed on surgery this summer so that he could make the Olympics. It was his desire to get a medal in Rio 2016 that drove him back on his bike ahead of all medical schedules.

“The Olympics next year would have been out the window,” Phinney told VeloNews. “Even just a few days before [the Tour of] Utah, I met with a surgeon, who wanted me to do more operations, and I didn’t even think it would be possible to race at all this year.”

“We decided to do a lot of physical therapy instead,” he said. “It was a lot less intrusive, and it meant I could race.”

Phinney says that Rio will be a highlight of his season in 2016, where he wants a medal after finishing fourth in both the road race and time trial in London four years ago at just 21.

“The biggest thing I am looking forward to is the Olympics next year. It’s a unique course, and we can adapt,” he said. “It would have been a huge game-changer if I had undergone that surgery.”

He is also targeting the cobbled Classics and his debut Tour de France in 2016.