Racing For a New Friend

"My race did not start well, and it got worse as I became increasingly homesick at the end of a long racing and travel block. I gave up on my race after stage 2, going to bed that night almost certain I would skip the next stage. But I resolved to ride stage 3 for the joy of riding in cool places and got my head on straight in the process."

"Searching for motivation, I found it in Mattia's race, where he was leading but under heavy attack. We weren't teammates, but I wanted to help my friend. The first 2 hours of the final stage, I was on. He was having a bad start and I frequently had to wait, but eventually, we found our groove with Tsgabu Grmay."

- Chad Haga

"Then my back gave out after an accumulated 23 hours of jackhammering by the unrelenting Kenyan roads, and I was desperate for Mattia to just leave me behind, but he kept refusing. We were two battered friends, helping each other through our bad moments. Eventually, the suffering ended and I could just lay in the soft grass. We were unsuccessful in defending his lead but succeeded in cementing our friendship."

- Chad Haga