"It is always fun to race against Van der Poel and Van Aert" - Neilson Powless eager to perform with the best again this spring

Neilson Powless had a spectacular spring last year, performing from late January to early April at a very high level constantly. He is being more selective with his goals this time around, and is looking to contest the big races with the big guns.

“I have had a lot of time to work on my fitness. I also became a father this winter and that has caused some challenges, but I am happy to be able to start the season well. Hopefully I am a better rider now that I am a father,” Powless told Wielerflits. “I have quite a few goals this season. I ride a lot of classics, starting with Strade Bianche. Then Milano-Sanremo and then, depending on how I feel, I can ride E3 Saxo Classic, Dwars door Vlaanderen, the Tour of Flanders and the Ardennes classics. I will try to win in all those races.”

The American will lead EF Education-EasyPost in several of these races, although his start to the season was not ideal. Late, at Gran Camiño, Powless did not show much capacity to fight for results and then in the final day crashed out whilst in the breakaway. He should still take to the start of Strade Bianche in the next few days.

“The goal is really to win a classic this year. I feel that my strength lies in tough one-day races and hopefully I can take advantage of that. I have to take it easier between all those races, even if they are only one-day races," he admits, aware that he was quite fatigued last year towards the end of the spring. "It really requires a lot of energy. In recent years I have sometimes trained too hard in between and I had to pay for that. Hopefully it will be better this year.”

Milano-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège are among his main goals: “It is always fun to race against Van der Poel and Van Aert, they are really strong. But I feel like I'm closing the gap with them in recent years," Powless believes. "They always remain the favorites, in any race. But I have more and more confidence in myself. I don't have that many arrows to shoot, so I have to be very smart with the choices I make in the race."

However to do this, he opts for the time being to put aside his ambitions in the one-week races. “Would I go for the final classification again in week-long races? I do not know. I really have to get into that position. For now I will focus on one-day races and ride stage races to prepare myself, but that is clearly not my focus.”