Nathan Haas (Garmin-Sharp) has got his season off to a flying start with 5th place overall in the Tour Down Under.

He admits that fifth is an exceptional result for him considering his opposition:

“I am currently sitting fifth on GC and guys like Gerrans, Evans and Porte are ahead of me then that's not bad company to be around," said Haas, the 2011 Herald Sun Tour winner. "And to have guys like Robert Gesink at the moment behind me then I’ve outdone where I thought I would be this time of year anyway," he told Cyclingnews.

He has had the whole team working for him and he is aware how much of an effort they put in to get him to where he is now on the final standings. His support team included rising star Rohan Dennis and close friend Steele Von Hoff.

"Rohan is an amazing guy and I am lucky to have the support of him and the team," he said. "I take the job of working with the team very seriously, so to have some of the world's best riders working for me, I can't say how much that means to me."

Haas collected his first ever WorldTour points on Stage 2 and has set himself up nicely for the rest of the year and will hope to keep scoring points in order to keep his WorldTour ride next year.