Haga hoping to return to form for Giro d’Italia

The memories dangle like strings, most just out of reach: car headlights on the wrong side of the road, panic and indecision; strange hands cradling his neck as he lay on a small patch of grass; a teammate holding his hand; the sensation of a helicopter’s liftoff; a white hospital bed.

The woman who drove into Chad Haga, 27, and his Giant – Alpecin team in January was on the wrong side of the road, a British tourist driving a rental car in Spain.

The scar runs from just under Haga’s nose all the way down to his sternum, a slice 97 stitches long caused by some piece of bike shrapnel or the car windshield. He’s still not sure. Five of his teammates, including John Degenkolb, ended up in the hospital.

More than three months later, the Giro will mark Haga’s true return from that frightening crash. He has made starts in a few races prior to the Grande Partenza in the Netherlands, but they’ll be tuneups. It will be at the Giro where he wants to perform at his old level once again and finally put the crash behind him.

If he’s successful, it will be an incredible …

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