Neilson Powless (born September 3, 1996) is an American and

Oneida Nation The Oneida Nation is a federally recognized tribe of Oneida people in Wisconsin. The tribe's reservation spans parts of two counties west of the Green Bay metropolitan area. The reservation was established by treaty in 1838, and was allotted to ...

professional road racing cyclist who currently rides for

UCI WorldTeam A UCI WorldTeam (2015–present), previously UCI ProTeam (2005–2014), is the term used by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to name a cycling team of the highest category in professional road bicycle racing, road cycling, the UCI World Tou ...

. Powless is the first US Native American to compete in the Tour de France.

Career

Early career 2018–2021

Powless turned professional with in 2018. He competed in his first Grand Tour at the

2019 Vuelta a España The 2019 Vuelta a España was a three-week Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tour cycling stage race that took place in Spain, Andorra and France between 24 August and 15 September 2019. The race was the 74th edition of the Vuelta a España and is the ...

. Powless, along with Jumbo-Visma teammates Robert Gesink, George Bennett and Sepp Kuss, each finished between 27th and 33rd in the overall standings en route to assisting Primož Roglič in winning the race. The next season he moved to . He was named on the startlist for the 2020 Tour de France. He rode in support of GC contender and team leader

Rigoberto Urán Rigoberto Urán Urán, Colombian military decorations, ODB (born 26 January 1987) is a Colombian former road racing cyclist who competed as a professional from 2006 to 2024. During his professional career, Urán has taken fifteen victories, inc ...

. During this tour he got involved in a breakaway and earned a top 5 stage finish. Following his strong debut, Powless again was named as part of the EF Team for the

2021 Tour de France The 2021 Tour de France was the 108th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's three Grand Tour (cycling), grand tours. Originally planned for the Denmark, Danish capital of Copenhagen, the start of the 2021 Tour (known as the ) was trans ...

. Early in the season he finished 5th in the

2021 UAE Tour The 2021 UAE Tour was a road bicycle racing, road cycling cycling stage race, stage race that took place between 21 and 27 February 2021 in the United Arab Emirates. It was the third edition of the UAE Tour and the first race of the 2021 UCI Wor ...

, in July he won the 2021 Clásica de San Sebastián, becoming only the second American to do so, and late in the season he finished 5th in the UCI world championship.

2022–present

During the 2022 Tour de Suisse Powless was active in several breakaways and stayed with the overall leaders throughout the entire race finishing in 4th place overall. He was added to the start list for the 2022 Tour de France, joining Nairo Quintana as the other Indigenous American rider to start the race. On stage 5 of the Tour, a particularly brutal stage with many cobbled sections, he joined a breakaway that survived to the finish. Overall leader Wout van Aert crashed multiple times giving Powless the chance to move into the yellow jersey. Van Aert was able to limit his losses, but Powless moved into 2nd place overall. At +0:13 this was the closest an American had come to wearing the leader's jersey since Tejay van Garderen tied for the lead in the first week of the 2018 edition. The next day he came within +0:04 of the lead, but

Tadej Pogačar Tadej Pogačar (; born 21 September 1998) is a Slovenia, Slovenian professional road bicycle racing, cyclist who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . His victories include three Tour de France, Tours de France (2020 Tour de France, 2020, 2021 Tou ...

seized control of the race and on stage 7 Powless began to fall back. Powless was active in other breakaways throughout the race including being the only rider to attack on kilometer zero of stage 12, which culminated on

Alpe d'Huez L'Alpe d'Huez () is a ski resort in Southeastern France at . It is a mountain pasture in the central French Western Alps, in the Communes of France, commune of Huez, which is part of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-R ...

. Several dozen riders attacked throughout the day but very few survived ahead of the GC favorites. Powless did survive, and placed fourth, he also advanced as high as 3rd place in the mountains classification by the start of the third week. He ultimately finished the Tour in 13th (subsequently upgraded to 12th), the highest ranked rider on the team and the only Team EF rider inside the top 25. He ended the 2022 season with a solo victory at the

Japan Cup The is one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan. It is contested on the last Sunday of November, post time of 15:40 at Tokyo Racecourse in Fuchu, Tokyo at a distance of 2400 meters (about miles) run under weight for age conditions with ...

. Powless started the 2023 season with success, winning both the

Étoile de Bessèges The Étoile de Bessèges () is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a ...

stage race and the single-day Grand Prix La Marseillaise. He then saw multiple top 10 finishes in the spring World Tour races, including the

Tour of Flanders The Tour of Flanders () may refer to the following cycle races: * Tour of Flanders (men's race) The Tour of Flanders (), also known as ''De Ronde'' (''"The Tour"''), is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race held in Belgium every spri ...

, Dwars door Vlaanderen,

Paris–Nice Paris–Nice is a professional road bicycle racing, cycling stage race in France, held annually since 1933. Raced over eight days, the race usually starts with a prologue in the Paris region and ends with a final stage either in Nice or on the ...

and

Milan–San Remo Milan–Sanremo (in italian language, Italian ''Milano-Sanremo''), also called "''The Spring classic''" or "''La Classicissima''", is an annual road bicycle racing, road cycling race between Milan and Sanremo, in Northwest Italy. With a distance ...

. He was again selected to race in the

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

, where he led the mountains classification for all but one of the first thirteen stages. He ultimately lost the lead to Giulio Ciccone and finished fourth.

Personal life

His mother Jen Allred ran the marathon for

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

. His older sister is fellow professional racing cyclist Shayna Powless. Powless married Frances Powless (née Chae) in 2020. The couple welcomed their first child, Charlotte Ann Powless, in September 2023.

Major results

;2016 : 1st Overall Joe Martin Stage Race : 1st Stage 8 Tour de l'Avenir : 1st Stage 3 Redlands Bicycle Classic : 1st Stage 3a ( ITT)

Tour de Beauce Tour de Beauce is a men's elite professional road bicycle racing multi-day event held each June in the Beauce region of Quebec, Canada since 1986. It is the oldest stage-race in North America, and is a Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI)-rated 2. ...

: 1st Stage 1 ( TTT) Olympia's Tour : 9th Overall Tour of California ::1st Young rider classification ;2017 : National Under-23 Road Championships ::1st Road race ::3rd

Time trial In many racing sports, an sportsperson, athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial (TT) against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athle ...

: 1st

Gran Premio Palio del Recioto The Gran Premio Palio del Recioto is a professional one day cycling race held annually in Italy. It is part of UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing competitions which were introduced in 2005 by the Unio ...

: National Road Championships ::2nd Road race ::3rd

: 3rd Overall Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux ::1st Stage 3a ( ITT) : 4th Overall Tour of Utah ::1st Young rider classification : 6th Overall Giro Ciclistico d'Italia ::1st Stage 1 : 6th Giro del Belvedere ;2018 : 7th Overall

Tour of Britain The Tour of Britain is a multi-stage cycling race, conducted on British roads, in which participants race across Great Britain to complete the race in the fastest time. The event dates back to the first British stage races held just after th ...

::1st Stage 5 ( TTT) : 9th Overall Settimana Internazionale di Coppi e Bartali : 10th Raiffeisen Grand Prix ;2019 : National Road Championships ::2nd

::3rd Road race : 7th Overall Volta ao Algarve : 7th

;2020 : 4th Overall

Herald Sun Tour The Herald Sun Tour is an Australian professional bicycle race held in Melbourne and provincial Victoria, sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The first tour was held in October 1952 as a six-day event. It is now held annuall ...

;2021 (1 pro win) : 1st Clásica de San Sebastián : 5th Road race,

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and , a UCI Road World Championships ...

: 5th Overall UAE Tour : 6th Coppa Sabatini ;2022 (1) : 1st

: 3rd Maryland Cycling Classic : 4th Overall Tour de Suisse : 8th

Liège–Bastogne–Liège Liège–Bastogne–Liège , also known as ''La Doyenne'' ("The Old Lady"), is a one-day classic cycling race in Belgium.Cycling Weekly, UK, 13 March 1993 First run in 1892, it is the oldest of the five ''Cycling monument, Monuments'' of the Eur ...

;2023 (2) : 1st Overall

: 1st Grand Prix La Marseillaise : 2nd Maryland Cycling Classic : 3rd Overall Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var : 3rd Dwars door Vlaanderen : 4th Clásica de San Sebastián : 5th

: 6th Overall

: 7th

::Held after Stages 1–4 & 6–13 :: Jersey beige number

Combativity award Stage 2 ;2024 (2) : 1st Gran Piemonte : 1st

: National Road Championships ::3rd Road race ::3rd

: 4th

Coppa Bernocchi The Coppa Bernocchi is a European Road bicycle racing, bicycle race held in Legnano, Italy. From 2005 to 2019, the race was organised as a UCI race classifications, 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour, before joining the UCI ProSeries in 2020. In 1 ...

: 6th Clásica de San Sebastián : 8th

Giro di Lombardia The Giro di Lombardia (), officially ''Il Lombardia'', is a cycling race in Lombardy, Italy. It is traditionally the last of the five 'Cycling monument, Monuments' of the season, considered to be one of the most prestigious one-day events in cycli ...

: 8th Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec ;2025 (2) : 1st Dwars door Vlaanderen : 1st GP Gippingen : 4th Eschborn–Frankfurt : 4th

Trofeo Laigueglia The Trofeo Laigueglia is an early season road bicycle race held annually in Liguria, Italy. It is held about ten days after the opening to the Italian season, the Gran Premio della Costa Etruschi. From 2005 to 2014, the race was organised as a ...

: 6th Overall Volta ao Algarve : 7th Brabantse Pijl : 10th

General classification results timeline

Classics results timeline

References

External links

*
Neilson Powless
on ''Strava'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Powless, Neilson 1996 births Living people American male cyclists Oneida Nation of Wisconsin people Sportspeople from Roseville, California Cyclists from California Native American sportspeople 21st-century American sportsmen