Austrian time trial specialist Matthias Brandl has signed a two-year contract extension with Israel Startup Nation.

"When a team puts so much faith in you, you can give back so much more. I have been doing that ever since I joined the team and I am excited that the journey is continuing," the 30-year-old Brendel said on the team's website on Tuesday.

"Don't worry only about the end result or judge you by the question, "What have you done for me lately?" I'm growing up on a team that doesn't judge you by the question, "What have you done for me lately?"

"At ISN, I feel like we're a family. That's why I have so much more to offer.

Team Ineos leader Chris Froome has been rumored to be in the mix for next season, but Brendel insists that he and his teammates will be in the mix when competition resumes in earnest in late July/early August after a hiatus due to the coronavirus outbreak

"There will be other teams in the mix.

"We can compete with the best even if we don't have star riders like other teams," he said.

Brendel will restart the 2020 season at the Sibiu Cycling Tour on July 23.

"I hope I can bring home a win," he said of the opening prologue time trial of the Romanian stage race; the Giro d'Italia, which runs from October 3-25, will feature three individual time trials.

In October 2014, Brendel, who was a member of IAM Cycling, set an hour record of 51.852 km, beating the previous month's record set by Germany's Jens Voigt. This record lasted for four months until it was taken away by Australian Rohan Dennis in February 2015.

Brendel then moved to Trek-Segafredo in 2017, winning time trial stages in both the Baloise Belgian Tour and Tour of Denmark, and in the 2019 season he moved to Israel Startup Nation, where he became the fifth career In addition to becoming the Austrian time trial champion, he won the prologue time trial at the Tour of Estonia and Tour of Lake Taihu.

This season, Brendel narrowly missed winning the final stage of the Tour de la Provence, being snatched by Owain Doull (Team Ineos). After starting his season in Spain with the Mallorca Challenge and the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, he competed in the UAE Tour, which was interrupted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis.

"Honestly, it's been a long time since I've been away from racing and able to relax at home. Obviously a lot of people are stressed about this crisis, but I felt I needed to make the most of it and relax"

.

"I think it actually helped because I was able to get my inner hunger and passion for racing back. I can't wait for the season to resume and I can show that I'm in great shape."

"Matthias has always had a great attitude, both on and off the bike. His brightness and positivity will ensure we perform well as a team."