Neilson Powless will miss the Spring Classics after undergoing surgery on his left knee, EF Education-EasyPost confirmed on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old American made his season debut at the Tour de la Provence earlier this month, but was forced to stop racing after pain returned during the event. Powless said he is relieved to finally have clarity on the issue and a defined recovery timeline.
“At least now we can say that the problem is solved and I can move forward with a clear path of recovery,” Powless said in a team statement.
What happened and why surgery was the option
Powless explained that the problem had lingered through the winter, with multiple scans taken across roughly two months. The first two scans suggested the knee was improving, and he returned to training without pain. However, the issue flared again in Provence and a further scan showed the inflammation had not fully gone away.
“Over the course of the last two months, I had three scans of my knee and the first two showed really promising recovery,” he said. “After the second one, I was able to return to training pain-free… but on the third day of the race, I felt pain again and had to stop.”
“Surgery was going to give me the highest chance of success, so we opted for surgery,” Powless added. “It’s my first surgery ever… and everyone’s on the same page about recovery and where to go from here.”
Recovery timeline and return to racing
EF Pro Cycling head doctor Jon Greenwell said Powless is expected to make a full recovery, with a return to training projected in an eight to twelve-week window after surgery to remove inflammatory tissue.
“Surgery to remove the inflammatory tissue gave us a much better chance of a permanent fix,” Greenwell said. “The operation went well, and after the eight- to twelve-week recovery window, Neilson will be able to return to riding with no long-term impairment from the injury.”
No return date has been set for racing.
Races Powless will miss this spring
Powless said the timing is a major frustration after he had mapped out a spring focused on one-day racing.
“It is extremely disappointing to be missing out on the Classics. I was excited to try some new races this year,” he said. “This spring will be a recovery period for me… and hopefully bring some extra motivation and energy for the second half of the season.”
His planned spring programme had included major one-day targets such as E3 Saxo Classic, Dwars Door Vlaanderen, Paris-Roubaix, Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He will also miss early-season races that had been on his schedule, including Trofeo Laigueglia, Strade Bianche, Milano-Torino and Milan-San Remo.
Powless’ absence is especially notable given his standout Classics pedigree, highlighted by his Dwars door Vlaanderen win last season, where he outplayed a star-studded breakaway to take one of the biggest victories of his career.
