Cofidis, the French WorldTour team, found itself in a very similar situation to Australia's Mitchelton Scott after the second stage of the Tour Down Under in Stirling on Wednesday afternoon.

It was a day of contrasting emotions. Haas battled with Ewan and Impey at the finish, with the Australian finishing third. In contrast, European road race champion Elia Viviani, another newcomer to the French team this year, was battered and bruised, grazed and dazed, in the team van for some time before being taken to the race medical tent. He sat up.

The Italian was then taken to the hospital for further examination, but was ruled out as seriously injured.

"Hospital tests and scans denied any broken bones or trauma, but the left side of my body is covered in abrasions and I have pain in my knee. I will go over the situation tomorrow with the team."

Like Yates, it remains to be seen if Viviani will be able to run Thursday's Tour Down Under.

"I really feel sorry for Elia right now," Haas told a handful of journalists, including Cycling News.

"We were here for him today and he's very hungry, so this is unfortunate.

The 30-year-old Australian all-rounder added that he was right in front of the crash when it happened with 1.5 km to go in the 134 km stage.

"A big wave came from the left and I hit the brakes and crashed," Haas explained.

"I'm told it wasn't actually my wheel, it was a few wheels back.

"As far as third place today, I don't care about my position," Haas admitted.

"Last year was the hardest year of my career and of my life. As I said before, when people believe in you, you believe in yourself again. I've been inspired since I spoke with Cedric Vasseur [Cofidis team manager] last April and I hope I can repay the trust the team has put in me."

Haas added that he is approaching the race with a different philosophy than before.

"I have no expectations, and the word 'should' -- as my good mentor taught me -- is the most dangerous word in any language. "I'm just going to take it one day at a time for the rest of the year, and hopefully for cycling, because I've got a lot of work to do.

He said of Wednesday's third-place stage finish, "I'm happy to be back there. My goal is to win and I'll be really happy when I do."