JJ Haedo: Early Season Sprints King

Haedo got his start racing in support of Mark McCormick at Colavita

Juan Jose Haedo, the 5th year pro riding for the CSC team, seems to own the early season year in and year out. Starting in 2006, when he took two stages in the inaugural Tour of California and was recognized immediately as an emerging talent, Haedo has had more speed than some of the world's best early on in the year. Today, with one full calendar of European racing under his belt racing for one of the best teams in the world, the young Argentinian heads into 2008 looking poised the make the final jump to world-class calibre sprinter, along side the likes of Boonen, Hushovd, McEwin, Pettachi, and Friere.

Haedo takes stage one ahead of Gerald Ciolek in the 2008 TOC

Haedo got his feet wet in Europe for the first time as a pro last year, and the results were encouraging. After his usual two wins in California in 2007, and the points classification jersey, Haedo picked up a win in the Rund um Köln, won by such greats as Erik Zabel, Jan Ullrich and Erik Dekker. Last season was a good first effort for Haedo, and his confidence was further bolstered with a huge win in the Philadephia International Championship, as he showed his ability to limit his losses on climbs while biding his time for a sprint. Philadelphia is known as a tough course, one that demands maximum effort to complete, much less win, and Haedo's performance reveals the limitless potential he has.

His 2007 TOC win over world champ Bettini: Pure poetry

Haedo recently completed his third straight successful Tour of California, as he took the win in stage one, becoming the record holder for most stage wins in the history of the eight day event. Then, just yesterday, Haedo demonstrated that his form is still good with a solid win over three-time world champion Oscar Friere Gomez at the Clasica de Almeria. After this latest victory, Haedo will look to ride his good form to more victories at the upcoming Vuelta Ciclista a Murcia. He'll also build up over the next few weeks for Milan-San Remo, the season's first Classic. There, he'll face some of the biggest names in the sport, as MSR is known as a sprinter's dream. While Haedo may not take the win, expect to see him in the top ten, at minimum, if his form is good and his luck holds. Like Robbie McEwin, Haedo can win on his own if he has to, but with the support of his CSC teammates, he could well ride away with the 2008 "La Primivera" title.

His first win a the TOC: 2006, stage one