'San Sebastián was where I thought I deserve to be here' - Neilson Powless reflects on winning his first WorldTour race, the ride that changed him

This article is part of Cycling Weekly's 'the ride that changed me' series. Our writers hear from a range of professional and ex-professional cyclists about that one day on the bike that changed the trajectory of their career for good.

Neilson Powless has no time for self-pity and always finds positive lessons in the toughest of situations. After a difficult year hampered by a long term problematic knee injury and illness, Powless finally got back on track at the tail end of the season, picking up two individual victories at the Japan Cup and Gran Piemonte in Italy.

It only felt like a matter of time before he returned to winning ways, two eighth-placed finishes at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Il Lombardia suggested that top form was gradually returning. It then eventually arrived with a double salvo of success in his final two outings in 2024.

After turning professional in 2018, Powless rapidly developed a reputation as one of the best and most exciting American riders on the WorldTour. A gradually amassed collection of top tens in some of the biggest one-day races on the calendar added weight to that label, beginning with his first WorldTour level win at the Clásica San Sebastián in the Covid-affected 2021 season.

When Cycling Weekly caught up with Powless in Canada recently, the American highlighted his San Sebastián win as the most significant turning point in his career to date.

"San Sebastián was where I thought ok, I deserve to be here and physically I can be, so I can take real confidence from this," Powless said. "The next one was probably Dwars door Vlaanderen, the first cobbled classic that I did, I finished third and realised then that the Classics might be the races for me.

"Then Dwars again last year and the Tour of Flanders last were some pretty big eye openers."

As it is, Powless has become a rider whose strengths stretch far beyond the cobblestones of Belgium and northern France, with two lengthy spells in the king of the mountains jersey at last year’s Tour de France standing as a testament to his wide ranging skill-set as a bike rider.

But the Florida native still feels that potentially none of what then followed would have been possible were it not for that monumental day in the Basque country in 2021.

"My sports director that day was just so emotional as he lives in that area," Powless added as he reflected on his own personal breakthrough moment. “It's a race pretty close to his heart and he just gave me so much adrenaline, telling me what a big opportunity it was to be going for the win in a major WorldTour race.

"I still think that was probably the best ever sprint that I’ve done in my life at the end of five hours or whatever it was."

The EF Education-EasyPost rider duked it out with Matej Mohorič (Brahrain-Victorious) on the slopes of some of the region’s most notorious climbs, jumping off the front of the day’s breakaway on several occasions in an attempt at a solo effort to the line.

In the end it came down to a tense three-up sprint between Powless, the Slovenian and Mikkel Honoré (then Deceuninck-Quick Step), with Powless edging it on the line along the seafront in the coastal city.

Powless remembers the cacophony of noise, generated by the passion of the local Basque fans, on the majority of the hills he faced that afternoon.

He says the energy of the roadside spectators in the Basque country will continue to draw him back to events in the region time and time again.

"I just remember the fans being incredible on the Jaizkibel," Powless stated. "I love racing in the Basque Country. It really doesn’t matter what level the race is, the fans are just always so exciting to be in front of.

"It really was an awesome team performance from us too. I’m just glad I was able to attack when I did, soften everyone's legs and then win the sprint. That was a real perfect race for me I think."