After spending much of December seeking out Antipodean replicas of the Cauberg as he trained amid the Adelaide hills, Nathan Haas (Dimension Data) didn`t quite know what to think when the organisers of Amstel Gold Race announced that they were removing the climb from the finale of the Dutch classic. `I can`t tell you how many times I`ve been up a couple of climbs in training and in my mind I`m just picturing going up the Cauberg for the last time and then continuing over for a flat sprint,` Haas told Cyclingnews. `It`s been in my head for a long time but I`ll have to quickly ditch that idea and reassess.` Haas has taken most things in his stride so far in an early season where he has been one of the peloton`s stand-out performers. In 13 days of racing in 2017, Haas has only twice finished outside the top 10. Second place to Riche Porte on Willunga Hill and fourth overall at the Tour Down Under set the tone, and at the Tour of Oman this week, the Australian has continued to impress across multiple terrains.ADVERTISEMENT Fifth in the uphill sprint at Al Bustan, Haas then took fourth on the flat stage at the Ministry of Tourism, and then came home ahead of no less a figure than Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) to place ninth atop Green Mountain. Despite that fine run of form, Sunday`s final leg of the Tour of Oman will be Haas` last competitive outing for five weeks. `My heart wants to keep racing because it`s going well but my brain knows if I want to really hit my goals, which are the Ardennes Classics and the Giro, then it`s going to be more intelligent to hit the pause button now, put the form away for a little bit and maybe try to build it up again,` Haas said. `Even if my form for the Ardennes as it has been so far, then I`ll be really happy. But maybe there`s more to find in the next five weeks. But I`ll probably approach it with a pretty relaxed mindset: when you`ve had a good start to the year, it lets you be a bit more relaxed.`
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