Neilson Powless is back, and looking to end on a high after 'terrible' year: 'I was really in the dark'

The 30-year-old won a stage in the Tour of Austria, but otherwise had a difficult season. In the Tour of Guangxi, he wants to shine one last time before setting his sights on next year. “Hopefully I can finish my season on a high note and give myself some confidence for next season, because this year was just a disaster,” he sighed in an interview with Domestique.

The problem? His knee. It had already been giving him trouble last year, and that was also why he missed the spring season. “I was really in the dark. The injury was very strange, because after the surgery I was pain-free, which was great, but the swelling in my knee came and went so much that some days I couldn’t bend my knee at all, simply because there was so much fluid in it, and it was actually inexplicable.”

He continued to struggle in the months following his surgery. “At first, we thought I’d only be off the bike for two weeks and that I’d be able to race again a few months later. But it ended up being a month, and even when I got back on the bike, it was on and off. It ended up being three or four months without knowing whether I’d even be able to race this year.”

The 30-year-old American only rode the Tour de la Provence in February, after which he didn’t make his comeback until July at the Tour of Austria. After that, however, things went wrong again.

“After my knee injury, I crashed twice in Poland and broke something in my shoulder. Then, within three weeks, I came down with two bouts of stomach flu, which forced me to miss the World Championships.”

Even after he made his comeback following that injury, things remained difficult. “I performed poorly during the last few races in Italy, which was very disappointing. I hate racing and underperforming when I expected more, so that was tough, but at least now I feel like I can finally do my job.”

Now Powless hopes to finally show his true form again in China. “Because I know that if I can have a period of uninterrupted training, I can reach a very high level without needing too many race days: I can just show up and be ready to race.

"This year has just been terrible, so I hope I can finish the year strong and then have a smooth winter training period leading up to the next season.”