While there was some concern that Heinrich Haussler might not even make the cut into the round of 15 for Australia for the upcoming World Championships in his homeland, the rider who has had a difficult time with injuries in 2010, expects to be on the start line on October 3rd.
The runner-up at last year's Milan-Sanremo and Tour of Flanders has been on the comeback trail since the end of July and hasn't had much opportunity to show himself in 2010. With that in mind, he confessed that he was pleased to be in the selection of 15.
"I am very happy about the nomination. The World Championships in Australia will be a huge thing."
From 15, the group will be whittled down to its final number, nine, on August 24th. The racer who recently gave up his German citizenship to go all in for Australia, feels that he will be a part of the final team of nine, despite the scant amount of time between now and the final selection.
"Naturally, I won't have optimal preparation, but I think I can do well on this course even at 85-90% of my abilities. In any case, I'm planning on being in Melbourne."
Last week, Haussler said that it would be a let down not to be a part of this year's Australian World Championships team: "If I don't ride, of course I'll be disappointed, but I haven't been racing much this year, and I haven't had a chance to prove myself."
It would seem likely then, considering Haussler's words from today, that he is getting back into training with a vengeance. It would seem highly unlikely that the rider who lives in Freiburg, Germany would be even remotely confident if things weren't progressing forward at a very fast pace. It was only a little over two weeks ago that Haussler was able to return to his bike following surgery to his ailing knee, but even then, he was planning to get back to normal training quickly.
Haussler has said that he's a rider that can regain form rapidly without racing: "Some riders use the Tours to find their form and get their strength, but I can find my form just by training." He already showed his propensity for a rapid return to a high level when he took a stage at the Tour de Suisse in June, and could have possibly taken a second had Mark Cavendish not taken the both of them out. Haussler had only participated in one race before his start at the Tour de Suisse after missing out on the Spring Classics.
If Haussler's knee cooperates, there's no reason to think that the Australian won't be even better than the 85-90% form he is hoping to achieve - there are still over seven weeks until the World Championships. That's a far longer time to regain lost form than he had following his first comeback in 2010. True, knee surgery is a far different beast than a knee injury, but if his knee is back to full health, the sky is certainly the limit for the Cervelo TestTeam captain.