Nathan Haas is hoping to get his Dimension Data career off to a flying start later this month at the Tour Down Under. Haas, who finished fifth overall at the 2014 race, takes joint leadership of the team alongside fellow new recruit Cameron Meyer. He sees his home races as a chance to springboard to more success later down the line.
“The early season races in Australia are a good way to get the ball rolling and build the confidence. That is a major thing in the sport. Once you get a win you don’t have to be in the top form, and you’ve just got the confidence that you can pull something out of the bag,” Haas told Cyclingnews.
Haas finally signed for Dimension Data last September after long discussions with the team’s general manager, Brian Smith, that began as far back as 2014. He says that making the decision to leave the Cannondale-Garmin team, that he’d been in for the past four years, was a difficult but necessary one he had to make.
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However, he believes that his move to the newest WorldTour team on the block will be a chance to make some progress in his career. Talking to Haas, the sense of excitement of what lays ahead in his career is clear. “I think what is nice about this team is that anyone can step up. It’s a team that is waiting for guys to make the next step and that is where I see myself,” explained Haas.
“I’ve gotten to the end of so many finals, and either screwed it up or gone too early in a sprint and just been on the podium instead of the win. Sometimes I've maybe done too much work for GC teammates, which is not a bad thing, but it takes away from your potential performance. I know my ability, whether people doubt it or don’t believe in it, I do and I know that I can and I think that, for me, it is going to be a place that encourages it and will make it happen.”
Haas still has some very fond memories of his time with the Slipstream set up that runs the Garmin team. “I had a great time and I think that I did some good work there, and I contributed to some pretty historic wins like Liege-Bastogne-Liege and Lombardia with Dan [Martin],” said Haas. “Everything about Slipstream and what is great about it, was that it was easy.
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