The grass isn't always greener on the other side but for Nathan Haas the move from Garmin to Dimension Data has refreshed and revitalised the Australian despite a month off the bike following one of the more spectacular crashes so far this season. Fourth at the Australian national championships and sixth place at Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race were promising early season results but a 'stupid' crash on stage 4 of Paris-Nice saw Haas start back at square one in early-March. He may have been down, but Haas certainly was not out.
"I had a stupid crash at Paris-Nice where I attacked off the front on a downhill and went off the edge. I didn't think it was as bad as what it was," Haas told Cyclingnews of the crash that momentarily lit up social media.
The Aussie battler was back racing the following weekend at Milan-San Remo, for the third time in career, but quickly realised not all was well with the effects of the crash catching up with him.
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"Athletes are really good at convincing themselves that everything is ok and on path or something is ok when it isn't. I couldn't turn my head to the right almost at all. After San Remo, everything went dark," Haas recounted. "I had four days in bed where I couldn't really move. Not that I tore anything, but I did some nerve damage and everyday one of my fingers extra was going numb.
"By the time that my whole hand was numb and my forearm could feel it, I went to a specialist who was basically like 'get off, you can't ride a bike for a while' and that slowly come back. Then I got the flu and then first day back training, I had a bit of an incident being hit by a tractor which threw me off for another week," he added. "In French there is the saying 'Jamais deux sans trois', never two without a third. I had my run of three but unfortunately it was just before my favourite races of the year which are the Ardennes."
With his Ardennes campaign compromised by the crash and subsequent time off the bike, Haas could be excused for feeling a bit miffed to be missing one of his season goals and having to rebuild his fitness base. However, with an 'awesome' medical team behind him and a team that was taking the long term view, Haas explained there was still plenty to take away from his Ardennes experience.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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