Neilson Powless on Wout van Aert: "Every year, he has bad luck, but he always manages to return to the highest level"

Neilson Powless struck an historic victory last afternoon at Dwars door Vlaanderen, outsprinting Wout van Aert who was Team Visma | Lease a Bike's bet for victory in the finale. The EF Education-EasyPost rider talked about how he has a relationship with all of the Visma riders he beat, and in more detail described what was the highlight of his career.

"I spent 50 kilometers talking to the men in the car about whether I should help or not. Tiesj [Benoot] and Matteo [Jorgenson] also spoke to me because we had to help them get ahead," Powless said in a press conference following the race, as reported by In de Leiderstrui. Now after the rush of a shocking win, the 28-year detailed better what really happened in that final hour of racing. "Of course, we were in a good group, but it was also intimidating for me to be riding against three men from the same team.

"What worked in my favor was that we never had more than a one-minute lead. That way, we could keep up a high pace, and there was little playing around," he said. But he never expected for Visma to fully commit to a conservative strategy. "Although every time I took the lead, I couldn't wait to let myself fall back again. It hurt a lot, so it went fast. The headwind also made it hard."

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"I never thought in a million years that I could beat him in the sprint" - Neilson Powless on taking down Visma and Van Aert at Dwars door Vlaanderen

In the finale a sprint made a podium likely, but even in this scenario (made to favour a van Aert win) an American win wasn't expected. "I thought I could come in second, but victory still felt too ambitious. I mainly tried to avoid getting boxed in because I could come in second. I had something special, I think," he adds. "I was feeling excellent. I haven't often experienced such situations, so I didn't know what to expect. But now, I can safely assume I could still sprint to victory."

He obviously dealt a killer blow to the 'bees', but certainly it won't be something that will destroy his relationship with the riders he worked together with. "I am quite good friends with Tiesj's brother because he also lives in Nice. He sent me a message to wish me luck for the race. Matteo, on the other hand, lives a hundred meters down the road from me," he shares. "And I was a teammate of Wout, who I have always admired. And I still do because he has already achieved so much."

On the Belgian whom he beat, Powless has nothing but admiration, specially after such a close battle with him. "Every year, he has bad luck, but he always manages to return to the highest level. That is so impressive. It felt special to be on the road with those men, even though they are opponents."

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Matteo Jorgenson: "We decided to go for the sprint with Wout and it was the wrong decision"

Wout van Aert and Team Visma | Lease a Bike not on the same page? "He still wanted to start in Gent Wevelgem"

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