After crashing out in stage 3 of his debut Tour de France with a broken collarbone, Haig's preparation for the Spanish Grand Tour has been far from ideal with recovery hampering a lot of potential training, but the 27-year-old has been nothing short of his best through the first nine stages.
Sitting seventh overall heading into the gruelling 188 kilometre stage nine, Haig rode aggressively to remain with GC favourites Egan Bernal, Adam Yates (both INEOS Grenadiers) and Miguel Angel Lopez (Movistar), attacking the latter two in the last kilometre to take fourth on the day as teammate Damiano Caruso soloed to victory on the Velefique.
And whilst Haig said yesterday the plan was still to ride for team leader Mikel Landa, it's clear now who the real leader is as Keenan broke down how all the pieces are now in place for Bahrain to lay the foundations for an Aussie on the podium in Santiago de Compostela, starting with Caruso.
"Damiano Caruso won the stage," Keenan said. "Second from this year's Giro (d'Italia), he's now a key support rider."
"Mikel Landa came into the race as team leader, and he's now a super domestique for Jack Haig.
Keenan also highlighted Gino Mäder and Mark Padun as two more riders who will be key pieces of the plan to get Haig in the top three.
"We've seen Gino Mäder and Mark Padun who have been super strong all season long, now they're there to help Jack Haig," he said.
With one of the strongest teams in world cycling behind him, Keenan firmly believes Haig can keep up his red-hot form through the next two weeks to get the job done.
"Can he (Haig) still be there in two weeks time after crashing out of the Tour de France? Yes he can," Keenan predicted.
"He's freshened up, had slightly interrupted preparation admittedly, but there's no psychological pressure.
"Get on board Jack Haig, because he can make it to the top three by the time this race finishes in Santiago de Compostela."
