The 27-year-old sustained a fibula stress fracture in November, which has seen him miss most of the summer triathlon circuit.

"The rehabilitation was a real tough one," Lewis said.

"There wasn't much rehab I could do other than rest and I was in a moon boot for 10 weeks.

"It was really hard as I haven't had an extended break from the sport like that since I was 14."

But Jervis Bay Triathlon Club athlete's torture ended on Saturday when he competed in the Canberra standard solo event - finishing in second overall.

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"I knew I was fit going into my first race back, as I've been training my backside off - I was really hoping to be on the podium if not win," he said.

"But I was beaten by a better athlete on the day and am very happy with second."

Lewis finished the course in a time of 1:53:25, just under five minutes behind winner Yoann Colin (1:48:50) - even though the race got changed to a duathlon, due to Lake Burley Griffin's water quality.

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"The pace was really fast from the beginning and I finished the first run in fifth place," Lewis said.

"By 3km into the bike, I was in second place.

"I tried my best to catch first place but he rode really well.

"In the last 10km run, I felt terrible for the first half but came home strong the second half and finished great, which gave me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.

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"Overall, I'm stoked with the result - I was just happy to be back racing."

This event acted a perfect warm-up for Lewis' assault on the Big Huskisson Triathlon, which will run from February 29 to March 1.

"This was tune-up race for Husky, which is the main race for me at the moment," he said.

"I'm aiming for a top-five result at Husky."