‘No rush like a bike race Can Give You’

He accepts he’s some way off his top form but Neilson Powless is hoping an extended stint off the bike could yet see him in pedal-pounding shape for the Ardennes Classics.

The American EF Education-EasyPost rider got his season underway Friday on stage one of the Tour de la Provence and is optimistic he can rapidly build form in the weeks to come.

“I’m starting in Provence, and then I’m planning to go race in Italy at Trofeo Laigueglia and then Strade Bianche, Milano-Torino, and Milano-San Remo,” he said in a team announcement this week.

“They’re all races that are quite close to where I live in Nice. I can drive to most of them, which is great. After the Italian block, I will head up to Belgium for almost all of the classics. That’s been the most motivating thing for me, being able to compete in the classics, from the Flemish classics to the Ardennes and Roubaix in between.

“I’m really hoping that by the time I get to the Flemish classics, I’ll be firing on all cylinders and ready to compete for the win.”

Powless is a proven rider for big one day events, winning the Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa in 2021 and Gran Piemonte in 2024, and sensationally beating Wout van Aert plus two other Visma-Lease a Bike riders in last year’s Dwars door Vlaanderen.

He outwitted the trio and stunned Van Aert in the gallop to the line.

He’s also a two time winner of the Japan Cup and a past champion at the GP Gippingen and the GP Cycliste la Marseillaise.

A big debut in 2026

Following on from those wins, Powless told Velo in an in-depth interview earlier this year that he has a major objective in mind.

“The goal is to win a monument,” he said.

“I want to finish top 10 in Roubaix because I have finished top 10 in every monument plus World Championships and I think there are only two or three riders in the last twenty years who have done that.

“I haven’t raced Roubaix yet. If you look at [Mathieu] van der Poel you wouldn’t think there is any luck involved at all but in my opinion there is a lot of luck involved in terms of mechanicals and crashes. So, I want to start racing Roubaix because I would love to get a result there at some point in my career.”

However he had plenty of stress in recent months due to being sidelined from the bike.

“I took a longer off season already just to be around to help out with our second baby,” he said. “Our son, Remy, was born in October so I took five or six weeks off and then towards the end of that, I injured my knee and created tendonitis off the injury so I had to sort of halt my training.

“It just took a really long time for that to heal. I didn’t need any surgeries but it was just injured in an area that would get agitated even from just walking. It was a difficult one to fix but now it’s all good.”

It’s now mid-February but Powless hasn’t been exercising that long.

“I’m four weeks into training and just trying to build my fitness up again,” he said. “It was better at least that I was injured in November and December than in June or July, but at the same time it pushed my goals back by a couple of months.

“Originally we weren’t sure how long it was going to take but now we have a pretty clear plan of when we think I can start racing for the win.”

A testing challenge

Having a new addition to the family has undoubtedly been a boost for Powless. The distraction will have helped when he was struggling in another area.

For any athlete, being sidelined is an issue. For Powless, what was an extended stint away took a toll on him.

“This is the longest injury I’ve had to come back from. I’ve had minor bouts of tendonitis, but in the past I’ve only needed to take three or four days off and then it would go away,” he said.

“This was, I think, the longest time in my life I’ve ever taken off from sports, so that’s pretty wild. I was always into basketball or cross-country running or swimming or triathlon or mountain biking or, of course, road cycling.”

So what was the most difficult thing about it all? It wasn’t about needing to reshape his goals for the season, because he is aware just how packed the calendar is.

Instead it was another issue.

“The hardest thing for me was just not having the outlet that I’ve had for the rest of my life,” he said.

Many athletes will understand that sentiment, and so too quite a few amateurs. Much of his identity is based around what he does. So too his ability to thrive.

It’s well documented that athletes can feel adrift when they are injured, particularly if they are out of action for longer periods. However things are looking up now and he’s raring to go.

“I’m definitely very excited to get back to the peloton,” he said prior to the start of the Tour de la Provence on Friday. “Races are very motivating for me.”

“More freshness for the Classics”

Powless confirmed prior to Provence that he will be playing a supporting role for his team. That’s borne out by his results thus far; he was 1:14 back at the end of stage 1 and 62nd on Saturday’s stage 2.

Helping other riders is his focus right now, and so to using the early races to build up his condition.

He is not putting any pressure on himself right now.

“It’s nice if I can reach competitive shape but we’re not really expecting it until I get up to Belgium,” he said. “We’ve got E3, Dwars Door Vlaanderen, Amstel Gold, Paris-Roubaix, La Flèche Wallonne, and Lèige-Bastogne-Lèige. It’s quite a long block and I’d like to race all of those.

“I think this time off the bike will just give me more freshness for the Classics.”

It’s easy to imagine a rider with Powless’ results to be frustrated not to be a contender right away.

He’s ambitious, he’s determined and he wants to make a big splash this year.

However, in some ways, being back in the bunch is its own reward.

“Racing is what excites me the most,” he said. “Getting back in the peloton and feeling that camaraderie with the team and going with a real purpose of what you want to get out of the week, all of that is really motivating for me.

“I like training and I like the process but there’s no rush like a bike race can give you.”