The mantra ‘third time is the charm’ is part of the playlist for Chad Haga this season as he returns as one of the favorites in the elite men’s time trial at USA Cycling Pro Road Championships. This is a program that launched his pro career back in 2012.
Haga has a pair of silver medals on Team Sunweb in the 30-plus-kilometer flat track along the banks of Melton Lake in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. He sat in the hot seat for most of the hot southern day in 2018 until his time was eclipsed by Joey Rosskopf (then BMC Racing). In 2021 his time was bettered by Lawson Craddock (EF Education-EasyPost) by just 18 seconds.
He’s back with his former team this time around, and with the scorching hot and humid conditions of the southeastern US, with temperatures expected to push toward 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 ° C) on Thursday.
“I’m hoping that it pays off here. The TT in Tour de Suisse last week went well, and it was a good practice for tomorrow in terms of course type, duration, and weather …. I also have to believe that my consistency will be rewarded at some point, ” Haga told Cyclingnews.
The Texan was part of the squad that competed as one of the ProTeam selections at Tour de Suisse last week. In the 25.6km time trial to finish the eight-day stage race Haga finished 12th, just 1:25 off the winning pace set by Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) and 1:22 behind runner-up Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers).
Haga is not worried about that.
“[We will] be ready for a hot and hard race. Suisse, so we’ll be ready for it, ”said Haga.
The Giant d’Italia final, and the next year he was seventh in the Giro finale in Milan. He told Cyclingnews that his move from Team DSM back to the ProSeries-level Circuit Sport organization was the right team in the right time in his career.
“I was looking for a little less time away from home and a race program that would give me more opportunities to rediscover the kind of racing that made me fall in love with it. The team also included a lot of friends, which would help me enjoy the time off the bike even more. Transitioning back to the team has been quite smooth, since it was already familiar. It has grown since I was last here, but it still feels the same culturally, ”he said.
One-time Kelly Benefit Strategies rider Ben King is now back with the Human Powered Health organization. He won the road race national title in 2010 racing for Trek-sponsored Continental team before Haga turned pro. They’ll both defending champion Lawson Craddock strong competition in the trial time.
“I learned early on how tenacious and strong Ben is, since I had to chase him back. It’s been a pleasure racing with him this year, he’s always optimistic and gives his best, and I’ve never had to chase him back, ”he said.
“As for myself, I’m enjoying this new career and my family enjoys life in Girona, so I’ll keep it rolling a while longer.
“I’m not hoping to finally snag a result. I was starting to hit my stride, so I’m still missing a result. Personally, I hope to enjoy it as much as possible – family life and racing, and just ride my bike. ”
Team performance director Jonas Carney echoed what a challenging run-up to the Nationals that Haga has experienced, but he knows he can deliver.
“Chad had a rough start to the season with multiple setbacks, so it was great to see him finish at the final TT in Switzerland. He has worked really hard to get back to this level and he certainly has a good shot to win on Thursday, ” Cyclingnews.
Carney and his staff have been deployed for the last year, as injuries and illnesses have depleted the delegation. The most prominent vacancy is defending national champion Joey Rosskopf, who is recovering from COVID-19 that took him out of Tour de Suisse. Knoxville native Stephen Bassett, who was second in the road race in 2019 and was a good form this year, encountered a deer on a training track and is out indefinitely with broken collarbone, cracked ribs and what he assessed as “ to have misplaced about half the skin on my body ”.
Another of Haga’s teammates considered a wild card for the time trial and road race was Gage Hecht, who will be due to injuries sustained in a crash at 4 Jours Dunkerque. In the past two editions of the elite men’s TT in Knoxville he was victorious in 2019 and 2021, and ninth in the road race last year.
The team has also decided not to compete in the criterium this weekend, with Robin Carpenter, who was fourth at last weekend’s Harlem Skyscraper Criterium, focusing on the road race with Nate Brown.
The team was a little smaller, but ready to compete. “It’s a little diminished from what we expect due to illness and injury, but we still have a large and deep roster on the start line.”