Neilson Powless forced to miss entire spring after knee surgery

Powless is disappointed to miss the Classics, but encouraged that he is now finally on the road to full recovery. “At least now we can say that the problem is solved and I can move forward with a clear path of recovery,” he said.

“It is extremely disappointing to be missing out on the classics. I was excited to try some new races this year. I had a plan of races I wanted to target and do well in, so this is a big disappointment,” Powless continued. The EF Education–EasyPost rider had been set for a packed programme of major one-day races from Milan–San Remo onwards.

“This spring will be a recovery period for me. I'll be able to watch my teammates on TV and spend extra time with my family, and hopefully bring some extra motivation and energy for the second half of the season,” Powless explained. “This is not something that's going to take me out for a really long time, but it's something that we will need to be cautious with. It will be a couple of months before I can plan a race, but it's nice to have a clear plan of recovery.”

Powless had been troubled by knee inflammation throughout the winter. After delaying the start of his season, he managed a block of pain-free training and returned to racing at the Tour de la Provence. However, the pain came back on stage three, forcing him to abandon. After consultations with the team’s medical staff and knee specialists at AZ Herentals Hospital in Belgium, he opted for surgery.

“Over the course of the last two months, I had three scans of my knee and the first two showed really promising recovery,” Powless said. “After the second one, I was able to return to training pain-free, which was promising. I was even feeling strong enough to go to a race and start my preparations for the season, but on the third day of the race, I felt pain again and had to stop.”

“I had another scan done, and it showed that the inflammation had never fully gone away, even though I couldn't feel it. Surgery was going to give me the highest chance of success, so we opted for surgery. It’s my first surgery ever, but I was in good hands with the doctors here.”