Chad Haga took a gamble in 2024 on himself, switching completely from a 12-year road career to a new start on gravel. For the upcoming year, he's upping the ante again, moving to a full privateer setup for his longer efforts on chunkier terrain.
The Texas native found a home with PAS Normal Racing's off-road team after he officially retired from the road, the final two seasons with the men's Human Powered Health ProTeam. Success on gravel was immediate for Haga, scoring seven top five finishes, including second at Unbound Gravel 200 and third at The Traka 360.
Following his surprising debut at Unbound, Haga told Cyclingnews in Emporia that the result proved he was "not a roadie that came to gravel for a retirement. I very much enjoy this".
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With a short off-season completed by mid-December and one week into his restart for a second gravel campaign, Haga took time to talk with Cyclingnews again about his newest plans. Not only would he jump into a solo adventure without team support for the first time, he would also have to brake hard with his planning and training to recover from a broken arm.
"PAS Racing was instrumental in helping me success this year. I learned a ton. I felt I could take on the full package of logistics, details and managing all of that, because this year went well. So I will be a full-on privateer in 2025, pull together some sponsors I'm really excited about," Haga told Cyclingnews, before his surgery for a broken radius and ulna in his right arm, which he suffered on a training ride near his home in Spain.
"Next year is going to be an adventure. It is a bit of a gamble, seeing as how gravel is becoming more team-oriented. While my heart was with the PAS Racing team and a fun group of people, I'm not in it just for fun. I need to support my family."
Once he got "everything screwed back together" so he could use his fingers to type, he was back on a trainer and back on the computer 15 days after the solo crash - his tools for privateering. He admitted he had never suffered such a severe career setback before, but would take it as a "challenge".
"Part of the draw is getting to race in cool new places experience new cultures and take on new challenges. So I'm excited about that. First, I have to get back on the bike! At the moment I don't know what that timeline looks like."
The absence of a full team will also be a challenge for him next season. PAS Racing was by far the largest gravel team of the past season, also supporting Tobias Kongstad and Sien Nordahl Svendsen, who finished third and sixth, respectively, at Unbound Gravel 200 in the men's elite field, and Karolina Migon, women's winner at The Traka 360, La Indomable and Gravel Suisse in 2024.
"With PAS, I had a lot of freedom on my calendar, so that didn't really factor into the decision. It was a huge help to have them (PAS Racing) managing all of the logistics, some help with gear and support at the races, so I could focus on learning how to race gravel effectively, and all the other pieces that go along with off-road racing.
"The PAS team wants a unified look, which is completely understandable, but that means there's not much space to put other sponsors on there. So it came down to an economic decision for me," he said about parting ways, noting he would announce his new partnerships in January.
"And that means there's also more on my plate. I'll be leaning into the privateer network - they're pretty good about sharing resources and helping each other out. Hopefully it will go great again," he said with a nervous laugh about being his own travel agent.
Sweeping through a learning curve this past year was massive, but he's sure he has a recipe for more success, once he's back to full training.
"Part of the reason I have succeeded in gravel is that I really love to train for long distances. I did extremely long training rides for fun," Haga said.
"There's two avenues to succeeding in gravel - being genuine and results. Being a fast racer and one people cheer for, it's a great way to pay the bills. Sponsors need representation at the front of the race, and it's a social media sport also. That's been a big learning part for me. That's an additional job in itself.
"I love to explore my limits - see what I am capable of and see if I can stretch my limits. That payoff is intrinsic to the sport and I don't have to be convinced."
