After his horror crash at the 2014 Giro d'Italia which forced him to stay off the bike for several months, Fabian Wegmann fought his way bac to the world elite in the Cult Energy jersey and delivered a few top results.

At the German Championships in Bensheim, the 35-year-old took a strong fourth place. "The victory was even within reach," Wegmann told radsport-news.com.

The near-miss at his attempt to add a fourth German title after 2007, 2008 and 2012 came after Wegmann had finished seventh at the GP Kanton Aargau (1.HC) and twelfth at the Tour de Luxembourg (2.HC) in his first year with the Danish team.

"Overall I am satisfied with the season. After a rough start for the team, I was quite early in good shape and in the first races I was able to be in the mix. That showed me that I had worked well in the winter and was fully recovered from the serious injury," Wegmann said.

For the classics specialists, more than fourth at February's Tour du Haut Var would have been possible. "In the overall standings I would definitely have been able to finish on the podium if our truck had not been emptied by thieves during the night before the final stage," said Wegmann who was unable to start the final stage.

The Ardennes classics ended disappointingly. Due to illness, Wegmann was unable to fight for the top results in his favourite races. The next setback came just a few days later when the Eschborn-Frankfurt City Loop was canceled due to a terror threat. "I can only hope that I will never experience something like that in cycling again," said Wegmann who won the German classic in 2009 and 2010.

For the coming season, the veteran has once again made the Ardennes classics as th big goal. However, his Cult Energy-Stölting Group team needs a wilcard.

"But a start at the Olympics is also something I would like to achieve," Wegmann added. "I think the course is very hard and with my experience I could play an important role. But for that to happen, the first half of the season has to go very well and I am now training for that with full concentration."