Stefan Denifl seemed to be on his way to a great 2014 season when he excelled on the climbs in Paris-Nice. However, knee problems forced him to end his season already after the Austrian Championships in the end of June.

Having lost weight during the winter, Stefan Denifl (IAM) got the 2014 season off to a great start. However, his success which was highlighted by his great performance in Paris-Nice, only lasted until the early summer.

"Since June I have been suffering from knee problems but now I am finally able to see an end to my woes," he told radsport-news.om. The Austrian was completely sidelined after the national championships in late June and only managed to start a single one-day race in the second half of the season.

Nonetheless, Denifl did better than ever before in the first months of the season. Already in the Tour Mediteraneen in February, he impressed with a third place in the queen stage to Mont Faron. It went even better at Paris-Nice where he delivered a consistent performance to finish seventh overall. "That was a brilliant result for me," Denifl said. "I am also satisfied with the classics. with the classics, I'm satisfied. In Liège-Bastogne-Liège, it went really well, even I missed a little bit to get into the top 10 after I had attacked too early," said Denifl who finished 20th in the oldest one-day race of the WorldTour.

In May and June, he had lost a bit of power before the knee problems - more precisely, pain in the fibula - occurred. Denifl has been suffering a bit since a crash a few years ago. "And even though I had not had any problems since then, I got a nasty infection in June. I quickly realized realized that the inflammation was just the tip of the iceberg and that there was a need for a lot of recovery and rebuilding," said the Austrian whose road season virtually ended in July. Instead of racing, Denifl had to visit the doctors several times, undergo several treatments and accept several "minor and major setbacks."

But the all-rounder got through the tough period, also thanks to the support of his team. "IAM has given me the time to tackle the problem at its root and have not forced me into racing too soon," said Denifl who is now optimistic for the new year.

"I will again be fully concentrated on the sprint. I've seen that I get closer to the world elite every year and that gives me motivation. I will take everything else as it comes and with a good preparation I will probably be able to look back at some kind of top result," he said.