A surprise selection in the Australian men's team for the Bergen Worlds, with just 11 race days in his legs, Heinrich Haussler validated his place in the squad Sunday afternoon. The 33-year-old had his season cruelled by a serious knee injury, limiting him to just the 4 Jours de Dunkerque, Hamburg, GP Plouy and the Canadian one-day WorldTour races ahead of Bergen.
However, the lack of racing wasn't an issue for Haussler as he played a crucial role for Australia. With the team fully committed to Michael Matthews, Haussler stuck close to the 2015 Worlds silver medalist throughout the circuit. While Matthews was able to finish on the podium with the bronze medal, Haussler was almost six minutes behind in 93rd place after doing his job in the finale.
"It is a good result but obviously, it's not the result that we wanted. Michael was in top form. He's shown over the last couple of years that he is worthy of a world championship title. But Sagan was there. Always, always there. It's unbelievable," Haussler told Cyclingnews.
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For the third time in three years, Sagan was the man wearing the rainbow stripes after the podium celebrations. Compared to his previous two victories, Sagan was almost invisible through the race with Haussler explaining he doesn't know how the Slovakian does it.
"I was just saying to the boys, the whole race he was in the last 20 positions. Even with two laps to go, he was at the back. He just plays it so calm and so cool. It is like he doesn't care," he said in disbelief of Sagan.
Inside the final 10km of the 267km race, several attempts were made by riders to break up the peloton and shed the likes of Sagan for a reduced bunch sprint. Analysing the finale, Haussler explained the course wasn't as selective as anticipated and only the strongest of riders could have gone clear for a solo win.
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