In the latest entry in our Ten Questions series, Escape Collective caught up with Neilson Powless, who continues to find ways to surprise us even after a decade in the pro peloton. Seen as a future GC star when he signed with LottoNL-Jumbo at a young age, Powless has since developed into a one-day contender with EF Education-EasyPost.
Jacob Tubbs
At Dwars door Vlaanderen earlier this year, he somehow overcame stacked odds against his former team – now Visma-Lease a Bike – and out-sprinted a Tour de France green jersey champion. The 29-year-old American tells us about his evolution as a pro, his appreciation for a good hotel, the one(s) that got away, that incredible Dwars win, and more ....
Dane Cash: Early on in your career, you seemed to be on a GC trajectory, but now you're winning Classics. Did that change come about organically over time or was it part of a plan?
Neilson Powless: That was definitely planned three years ago, in the winter leading into 2023. I had my DS [sports director] meeting, and I told them I wanted to race on the cobbles, because in '22 there was a cobble stage in the Tour. I remember racing on the cobbles ahead of time. I was a bit nervous about it, but then I got on them, and I was like, "Wait, I'm actually really comfortable here, weirdly." I'm a pretty lightweight guy. Doing GC I was like 66 kilos, like pretty featherweight for a Classics rider, but for whatever reason, the way I pedal or something, it felt pretty natural. It felt like I could still lay good power down. I ended up racing for the win in that stage, and finished fourth. I was at the pointy end. And so that winter, I was like, "All right, it doesn't feel like this GC fight is working. I've tried this for five years now, six years."
When I joined Jumbo [now Visma] the project was to turn me into GC rider, and I carried that project over into EF. But then three years into EF, I mean I finished fourth in UAE, which was a good result, and then, I don't know, top 10 in Paris-Nice, and had some good showings, but it just felt like I was still really far away from landing on the podium or even trying to win one. I'm really motivated by trying to win something. It didn't really feel like I was ever going to be a contender for a win in a one-week stage race. So after that year, '22 coming into '23, the performance staff was also really on board with it. They thought it was exciting to try something new.
DC: It seems like it has worked out. Have you been happy with the shift?
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