Quinn Simmons returned from a five-month hiatus from racing to finish in the top 10 in the elite men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Zurich on Sunday.

Finishing ninth, 2:18 behind the phenomenal pace of new world champion Tadej Pogachar of Slovenia, Simmons was the best of what he called “the best team” of American riders in recent years.

“We have a lot of super strong riders. Maybe the team didn't think this was the day for me, but I felt like the course would fit me on a super nice day,” Simmons said.

Simmons was active throughout the final stages of the 273.9-km race, battling in an elite group that chased Pogachar for the final 100 km after the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia winner launched an unexpected attack early in the race.

As the race exploded behind Pogachar, Simons said he “lost count of how many times I was dropped,” but believed he could come back. He “just kept fighting, rode through the pack, and eventually made it to the front.

Ninth place was “not a great result,” he said, but considering he had been out of competition for five months for as yet undisclosed reasons, it was no small feat. He had not raced.

“I'm just now getting back into racing, so this is my best result in a big one-day race in almost two years. So I'm going to take this result as encouragement and prepare for next year.”

Since Burgos, the 23-year-old has steadily improved, finishing second in a stage at the Tour de Luxembourg and 13th overall at the world championships.

Simmons said he underestimated his potential when he was selected for the team, but later changed his mind. He said, “I knew I was going to be doing big mountain races. So I thought maybe I wasn't cut out for it, and then I saw the U-23 race and I started thinking I could make it."

He also said that he was ”very excited about the U-23 race, and I thought I could do it.

However, the difficulty level of Pogachal was too high. Asked if the race was hard, Simmons replied, “I mean, I ran 7,000 kilojoules. He replied.

“My teammate Matthias [trade teammate Skjelmors] said to me once when I was trying to keep up with Pogachar, 'If you get too close to the sun you will burn yourself. I have no idea how he made it into the top 10. From the moment I tried to follow him, I was full of limits. So I have no idea how that happened.”