Chad Haga and his Giant-Alpecin teammates suffered a major crash while training in Spain, caused by a driver in the wrong side of the road. The American rider is recovering faster than expected from the injuries.

"My legs are going to be OK. My head is OK. Incredibly, I just have flesh wounds. I'm very relieved. It very easily could have been much, much worse", he told Velonews. "Nothing major is broken,î Haga told VeloNews in a telephone interview. "The injuries are healing pretty well. My neck is getting stronger. For awhile, it was exhausting just to look down and cut my food into small bites. My knees took a really big hit. Both got hyper-extended in the crash. I can walk, and Iíve been taking long walks of two or three miles a day. The more I move around, the more I loosen things up. Iíve been going to the gym, spinning on the bike a little bit. Thankfully, the team is putting no pressure on me at all. The most important thing is to get fully healed, and then weíll see where we are.

"I only broke my orbital around my right eye, nothing else. No concussion, either. I donít know how you crash into a car with that speed and donít get a concussion."

Now, he is only focusing on his return to professional racing.

"I was in such a good place mentally and physically, and I was really excited to race. I was ready to be a factor in the races, not just do the work early and set up other riders. I wanted to affect the race," Haga said. "Iím not ready to let it go. Itís a setback, for sure. I want to get healthy and make the most of the rest of the season."