{"id":1771228,"date":"2026-02-14T17:05:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T14:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1771228"},"modified":"2026-02-14T17:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T14:05:10","slug":"eyeing-roubaix-powless-bounces-back-following-injury-theres-no-rush-like-a-bike-race-can-give-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1771228","title":{"rendered":"Eyeing Roubaix, Powless Bounces Back Following Injury: \u2018There\u2019s No Rush like a Bike Race Can Give You\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
Updated February 14, 2026 05:10PM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
He accepts he\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m starting in Provence, and then I\u2019m planning to go race in Italy at Trofeo Laigueglia and then Strade Bianche, Milano-Torino, and Milano-San Remo,\u201d he said in a team announcement this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re 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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI\u2019m really hoping that by the time I get to the Flemish classics, I\u2019ll be firing on all cylinders and ready to compete for the win.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s Dwars door Vlaanderen.<\/p>\n
He outwitted the trio and stunned Van Aert in the gallop to the line.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s also a two time winner of the Japan Cup and a past champion at the GP Gippingen and the GP Cycliste la Marseillaise.<\/p>\n
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A big debut in 2026<\/h2>\nNeilson Powless and Michael Leonard (both Team EF Education \u2013 EasyPost) on stage 1a pf the Tour de la Provence this week (Photo: Billy Ceusters\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Following on from those wins, Powless told Velo<\/i> in an in-depth interview earlier this year that he has a major objective in mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe goal is to win a monument,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI haven\u2019t raced Roubaix yet. If you look at [Mathieu] van der Poel you wouldn\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
However he had plenty of stress in recent months due to being sidelined from the bike.<\/p>\n
\u201cI took a longer off season already just to be around to help out with our second baby,\u201d he said. \u201cOur 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.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt just took a really long time for that to heal. I didn\u2019t 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\u2019s all good.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s now mid-February but Powless hasn\u2019t been exercising that long.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m four weeks into training and just trying to build my fitness up again,\u201d he said. \u201cIt 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cOriginally we weren\u2019t 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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A testing challenge<\/h2>\nNeilson Powless took the 2025 Dwars door Vlaanderen against remarkable odds, beating three Jumbo-Visma riders including Wout Van Aert and Matteo Jorgenson (Photo: Gruber Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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.<\/p>\n
For any athlete, being sidelined is an issue. For Powless, what was an extended stint away took a toll on him.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThis is the longest injury I\u2019ve had to come back from. I\u2019ve had minor bouts of tendonitis, but in the past I\u2019ve only needed to take three or four days off and then it would go away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was, I think, the longest time in my life I\u2019ve ever taken off from sports, so that\u2019s pretty wild. I was always into basketball or cross-country running or swimming or triathlon or mountain biking or, of course, road cycling.\u201d<\/p>\n
So what was the most difficult thing about it all? It wasn\u2019t about needing to reshape his goals for the season, because he is aware just how packed the calendar is.<\/p>\n
Instead it was another issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe hardest thing for me was just not having the outlet that I\u2019ve had for the rest of my life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s 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\u2019s raring to go.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m definitely very excited to get back to the peloton,\u201d he said prior to the start of the Tour de la Provence on Friday. \u201cRaces are very motivating for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMore freshness for the Classics\u201d<\/h2>\nPowless celebrates the upset of 2025 at Dwars door Vlaanderen. <\/span> (Photo: Chris Auld\/Velo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Powless confirmed prior to Provence that he will be playing a supporting role for his team. That\u2019s borne out by his results thus far; he was 1:14 back at the end of stage 1 and 62nd on Saturday\u2019s stage 2.<\/p>\n
Helping other riders is his focus right now, and so to using the early races to build up his condition.<\/p>\n
He is not putting any pressure on himself right now.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice if I can reach competitive shape but we\u2019re not really expecting it until I get up to Belgium,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got E3, Dwars Door Vlaanderen, Amstel Gold, Paris-Roubaix, La Fl\u00e8che Wallonne, and L\u00e8ige-Bastogne-L\u00e8ige. It\u2019s quite a long block and I\u2019d like to race all of those.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI think this time off the bike will just give me more freshness for the Classics.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s easy to imagine a rider with Powless\u2019 results to be frustrated not to be a contender right away.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s ambitious, he\u2019s determined and he wants to make a big splash this year.<\/p>\n
However, in some ways, being back in the bunch is its own reward.<\/p>\n
\u201cRacing is what excites me the most,\u201d he said. \u201cGetting 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like training and I like the process but there\u2019s no rush like a bike race can give you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Shane Stokes<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Updated February 14, 2026 05:10PM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/GettyImages-2240104629.jpg”] Shane Stokes Updated February 14, 2026 05:10PM He accepts he\u2019s 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-1771228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1771228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1771228"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1771228\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1771228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1771228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1771228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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