Powless back to winning ways after long layoff and knee surgery
Five months after Neilson Powless started his 2026 season at February's Tour de la Provence, only to abandon on the third stage, the 29-year-old has made his comeback at the Tour of Austria, taking victory on a lumpy stage 3 ahead of UAE Team Emirates-XRG's Igor Arrieta.
This marks a ninth professional win for Powless, and a successful return to competition after a lengthy layoff, which included surgery to his knee.
Having started the Tour of Austria simply hoping to get back into the racing groove again, Powless was part of a large breakaway on stage 3 that continued to fracture over the lumpy terrain between Lienz and Alpendorf, where the American outpaced Arrieta on the 2.6-kilometre uphill finale averaging 6.5%. Arrieta's teammate Jan Christen finished third, then Vincenzo Albanese and António Morgado made it an all-EF-and-UAE top five. Winner of both previous stages Gregor Mühlberger, racing for the Austrian national team instead of trade team Decathlon-CMA CGM, finished in the peloton to maintain the race lead.
