In his first Grand Tour since an early abandonment from the Tour de France, Haig started the Vuelta as a support rider for Landa, but now finds himself seventh on the general classification and 57 seconds behind maillot rojo Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) after a foray into the breakaway during Stage 7 to Balcón de Alicante and a safe finish on stage 8.
“I managed to get a decent stage result and also move myself up in GC on Friday, but it doesn’t really change much for the team plans,” Haig said of his stage 7 ride before the start of stage 8.
“I’m still a bit unsure of how I’m going to last throughout the Vuelta coming off not too much training coming into this race.
Despite taking out the overall victory at the Vuelta a Burgos a month before, Landa put in a less than ideal time trial performance in the opening stage before looking slightly off the pace through the following days, but remains within touching distance in 12th, five spots back from Haig and a minute and 32 seconds off Roglic.
Tonight, the peloton take on another arduous mountain stage with almost 4,500 metres of climbing on the 188 kilometre journey from Puerto Lumbreras to Alto de Velefique, where Haig believes his teammate can bounce back, but he acknowledged the stage may take a heavier toll than previous days.
“We still have a lot of faith in Mikel. Every day always he’s there or thereabouts," Haig said.
"I guess we’ll have a bit more of an understanding of where everybody sits in the team after Sunday.”
The 27-year-old Victorian native further played down the prospect of taking over as Bahrain's main man, revealing he's just taking each day as it comes with the first rest day on the horizon.
“I’m also not really after that at the moment either,” Haig said.
“I think after Sunday we’ll see and reassess the situation, but at the moment I’m just trying to take every opportunity I can. Everything that I get is a bonus, basically.”
Asked about his and anyone else's prospects of catching Roglic at the top, Haig admitted the Slovenian may be unbeatable already in his bid to win back-to-back Vuelta titles.
“To be honest, I think he’s going to be incredibly hard to beat," Haig said.
"I think the only person who can beat him is himself. I think he needs to make a mistake for anybody else to capitalise. He’s looking incredibly strong and it’s hard to see him not winning the Vuelta, I think.”
The Vuelta a Espana continues with a brutal 188 kilometre mountain stage highlighted by the category 1 Alto Collado Venta Luisa. Watch the action live from 11:15pm (AEST) on SBS VICELAND, SBS On Demand and the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker.
