Neilson Powless chooses packed spring despite lingering injury: “Everything before Belgium is a bonus”

Powless will start his season at the Tour de la Provence, where he is not expecting to chase a headline result straight away. “I took a longer off season already just to be around to help out with our second baby. 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,” Powless explained on his team’s website.

“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 so it was a difficult one to fix but now it’s all good. I’m four weeks into training and just trying to build my fitness up again… 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,” Powless continued. After Provence, he plans a short training block before heading to Italy.

“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–Sanremo,” he said. “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.”

The key goal, Powless stresses, is arriving in top shape for the northern block. “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. Everything before that, it’s nice if I can reach competitive shape but we’re not really expecting it until I get up to Belgium.”

His intended run is extensive: E3 Saxo Classic, Dwars door Vlaanderen, Tour of Flanders, Paris–Roubaix, then into the Ardennes with Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège. “It’s quite a long block and I’d like to race all of those,” Powless added. “I think this time off the bike will just give me more freshness for the classics.”

The 29-year-old admitted the winter setback was a new experience in terms of duration. “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. This was the longest time I’ve had to take off and I think it was the longest time in my life I’ve ever taken off from sports so that’s pretty wild,” he said.

Still, there is clear relief that he avoided surgery and can race again. “I knew this was something that was going to heal, it was just going to take some and that was ok to accept. I didn’t need any surgeries or anything invasive which was great. It just took a long time… but I was pretty accepting about shifting my professional ambitions,” Powless explained.

And once he is back in the bunch, the motivation takes care of itself. “Racing is what excites me the most… 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.”