Neilson Powless (EF Schooling-EasyPost) has one purpose this yr, and it is to win a Basic. The 27-year-old is placing nearly unique emphasis on this ambition after coming tantalisingly near a podium within the Tour of Flanders final season.
Powless completed simply behind Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) in fifth place final yr in Oudenaarde after Tadej Pogačar (UAE Crew Emirates) soloed to victory after escaping from Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Van Aert.
It was one among a number of indicators of his potential after a 3rd in Dwars door Vlaanderen and seventh in Milan-San Remo.
Chatting with Wielerflits, Powless laid out his ambitions that might put him in direct competitors with prime contenders Van Aert and Van der Poel.
“It is all the time enjoyable racing in opposition to them,” Powless mentioned. “They’re actually aggressive, actually robust. I really feel like within the final couple of years have began to shut the hole to them just a little bit. You realize they’re nonetheless going to be the favourites in each race that they present as much as however I am getting extra assured at each race I do.”
Final yr on the World Championships in Glasgow, Powless completed eleventh behind winner Van der Poel however was nearly on the wheel of the successful breakaway when it went clear – a heartbreaking however encouraging end result.
Powless additionally confirmed potential to change into a Grand Tour contender after he narrowly missed taking the maillot jaune on the 2022 Tour de France and completed twelfth general, however this yr he’s placing all of his consideration on one-day races.
“I’ve fairly a couple of large objectives this spring, numerous the classics,” he mentioned. “First one will probably be Strade Bianche, [Milan]-San Remo. After which relying on how wholesome and the way I am feeling, hopefully I can race E3 [Saxo Classic] and Dwars door Vlaanderen after which the Ardennes [Classics].
“I will be making an attempt to win any a type of. So hopefully I can do one.”
Few riders – apart from Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) – have been capable of beat Van der Poel and Van Aert after they present up, however Powless is gaining extra self-assuredness with every optimistic end result.
“I haven’t got as many bullets as them so I’ve to be very good in regards to the selections I make,” he mentioned.
Up to now few years, Powless has stuffed his spring calendar with week-long stage races akin to Paris-Good, the UAE Tour and Volta a Catalunya. Up to now this yr, he has raced O Gran Camiño however the remainder of the marketing campaign is solely one-day races.
He emphasised that he has to take extra time to get well in between races. “Although it is solely one-day racing, it nonetheless takes rather a lot out of you. I feel I’ll have tried to attempt to prepare too laborious between a few of the races and it caught up with me. So hopefully this yr I can handle that higher.”
With the Paris Olympic Video games on the calendar this yr, Powless can also be prone to lead Crew USA within the males’s street race, the place he will probably be dealing with the entire prime one-day racers in professional biking.
Powless is one among a number of US riders who’re poised for breakthroughs together with Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), Magnus Sheffield (Ineos Grenadiers), Kevin Vermaerke (DSM-Firmenich-PostNL) and Luke Lamperti (Soudal-Quickstep).
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