Nathan Haas managed to salvage his Australian summer with third place at the Cadel Evans Great Road Race, although it doesn’t make up for his bad crash that threw him out of GC contention at the Tour Down Under.

“To come back here [to Geelong] and all of a sudden have good legs and good sensations … I’m kind of proud of myself for pulling myself out of a hole that I shouldn’t have been in.”

The 25 year old crashed hard in the Tour Down Under and that caused him to finish the race 60th in GC, compared to fifth in 2014. The Australian was still in pain at the Cadel Road Race too, making his podium even more impressive.

“It’s always a hard pill to swallow, but really I had it pretty hard at Down Under. I came in with a lot of pressure on myself. The team was there to back me and they did a fantastic job, but I just wasn’t good enough. A lot of factors go into that,” as he told Cyclingnews.

“I hadn’t raced yet, or it didn’t play into my hands on stage 3 when I lost time on that horrid climb (to Paracombe) …Then to crash like I did on stage 4 after fighting out of the breakaway and all that … that was a shit day to be honest.”

“I didn’t quite realise how bad my neck felt until the next stage. As soon as I hopped on my bike on Willunga day (for stage 5) I knew it was bad. I won’t lie … I was pretty upset about the whole thing, especially when you back yourself.”

But he takes some heart from his podium position and he had nothing but praise for his team. He really believes that Cannondale-Garmin can be key players in the upcoming spring classics.

“Maybe I went a little early, but I felt it was the right moment and it felt like the legs were there.”

“I didn’t come away with a win, but as far as the good sensations and the good relationships go, we are building them. I think we are going to be a force to reckon with come the classics."