Riccardo Zoidl is a rather reserved person. On the bike, however, the Austrian is a lot more offensive and put that approach on show in the past year. In his first pro season, the 26-year-old mixed it up with the best in the world and achieved several top results, including a win at the Austrian road race championships.

Nonetheless, Zoidl does not draw an entirely positive balance. "The first year was okay but it could have been better. But you also have to remember that the races were at a much higher level than they were last year," he tells radsport-news.com

After he had won the Tour of Austria with the Gourmetfein team last year, Zoidl managed to make the jump to the WorldTour for the 2014 season when he managed to continue his improvement. In his first race at the Tour Mediteraneen, he was second in the time trial and third in the overall standings.

That he was unable to achieve more in the spring season was due to a broken collarbone that Zoidl suffered in Tuscany at the Strade Bianche. As a result, he went through a recovery of six weeks.

Zoidl lined up at the Tour de Romandie as his final preparation for the Giro d'Italia, his first grand tour. In his debut at a WorldTour race, he finished 12th overall. In the Giro, he was in the shadow of his Colombian teammate Julian Arredondo who won a stage and the mountains jersey. Zoidl rode consistently and finished 40th but due to an infection and stomach problems he was unable to do more.

Then Zoidl used the Austrian Championships to prepare for the most important race, the Tour of Austria. In both races he started as defending champion. In Igls, Zoidl could celebrate his second national title after a thrilling chase. "There were 15 riders in the break and for 70km I was less than five minutes behind. So I took off on my own and went full gas," says Zoidl who caught the group 15km from the finish and dropped his rivals on the final climb.

As opposed to this, he missed out completely in the early part of the Tour of Austria. In the summit finish on the Sonntagberg, the Trek captain lost almost two minutes to stage winner and eventual overall winner Peter Kennaugh (Sky). In the following stages, Zoidl was able to gradually get back to the best positions but he was unable to achieve more than a fifth place.

In the second half of the season, Zoidl was considerably quieter but with a third place in a stage of the Tour of Utah, he was still able to achieve a top result.

In 2015, the stage race specialist wants to build on his strong first half of the season. However, he admits that he still has to eliminate some weaknesses as he told sportnet.at. "I need to improve my descending. I am doing okay but I am no hawk. In the rain I still have a lot of potential to go faster. I could also be a bit quieter in the tactical area - sometimes I am too hectic."