Chad Haga took a bet in 2024 on himself, switching fully from a 12-year street profession to a brand new begin on gravel. For the upcoming yr, he is upping the ante once more, transferring to a full privateer setup for his longer efforts on chunkier terrain.
The Texas native discovered a house with PAS Regular Racing’s off-road staff after he formally retired from the street, the ultimate two seasons with the lads’s Human Powered Well being ProTeam. Success on gravel was instant for Haga, scoring seven prime 5 finishes, together with second at Unbound Gravel 200 and third at The Traka 360.
Following his shocking debut at Unbound, Haga advised Cyclingnews in Emporia that the consequence proved he was “not a roadie that got here to gravel for a retirement. I very a lot get pleasure from this”.
With a brief low season accomplished by mid-December and one week into his restart for a second gravel marketing campaign, Haga took time to speak with Cyclingnews once more about his latest plans. Not solely would he leap right into a solo journey with out staff help for the primary time, he would additionally should brake arduous along with his planning and coaching to recuperate from a damaged arm.
“PAS Racing was instrumental in serving to me success this yr. I discovered a ton. I felt I might tackle the total bundle of logistics, particulars and managing all of that, as a result of this yr went properly. So I might be a full-on privateer in 2025, pull collectively some sponsors I am actually enthusiastic about,” Haga advised Cyclingnews, earlier than his surgical procedure for a damaged radius and ulna in his proper arm, which he suffered on a coaching journey close to his residence in Spain.
“Subsequent yr goes to be an journey. It’s a little bit of a bet, seeing as how gravel is turning into extra team-oriented. Whereas my coronary heart was with the PAS Racing staff and a enjoyable group of individuals, I am not in it only for enjoyable. I have to help my household.”
As soon as he bought “all the pieces screwed again collectively” so he might use his fingers to sort, he was again on a coach and again on the pc 15 days after the solo crash – his instruments for privateering. He admitted he had by no means suffered such a extreme profession setback earlier than, however would take it as a “problem”.
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“A part of the draw is attending to race in cool new locations expertise new cultures and tackle new challenges. So I am enthusiastic about that. First, I’ve to get again on the bike! For the time being I do not know what that timeline seems like.”
The absence of a full staff will even be a problem for him subsequent season. PAS Racing was by far the biggest gravel staff of the previous season, additionally supporting Tobias Kongstad and Sien Nordahl Svendsen, who completed third and sixth, respectively, at Unbound Gravel 200 within the males’s elite area, and Karolina Migon, ladies’s winner at The Traka 360, La Indomable and Gravel Suisse in 2024.
“With PAS, I had plenty of freedom on my calendar, so that did not actually issue into the choice. It was an enormous assist to have them (PAS Racing) managing the entire logistics, some assist with gear and help on the races, so I might concentrate on studying the right way to race gravel successfully, and all the opposite items that associate with off-road racing.
“The PAS staff desires a unified look, which is totally comprehensible, however which means there’s not a lot house to place different sponsors on there. So it got here all the way down to an financial choice for me,” he stated about parting methods, noting he would announce his new partnerships in January.
“And which means there’s additionally extra on my plate. I will be leaning into the privateer community – they’re fairly good about sharing sources and serving to one another out. Hopefully it’ll go nice once more,” he stated with a nervous giggle about being his personal journey agent.
Sweeping by a studying curve this previous yr was huge, however he is positive he has a recipe for extra success, as soon as he is again to full coaching.
“A part of the explanation I’ve succeeded in gravel is that I actually love to coach for lengthy distances. I did extraordinarily lengthy coaching rides for enjoyable,” Haga stated.
“There’s two avenues to succeeding in gravel – being real and outcomes. Being a quick racer and one folks cheer for, it is an effective way to pay the payments. Sponsors want illustration on the entrance of the race, and it is a social media sport additionally. That is been a giant studying half for me. That is a further job in itself.
“I like to discover my limits – see what I’m able to and see if I can stretch my limits. That payoff is intrinsic to the game and I haven’t got to be satisfied.”