Neilson Powless to resume full training after injury

The American experienced pain around his right knee cap when he left the Italian stage race. The pain came from a combination of factors, likely including the cold weather and a crash at O Gran Camiño. Neilson took a few days off of training before he and the team’s medical staff were satisfied he was ready to resume light training. He continues to do targeted mobility work around his lower back, hips, and feet.

Matt Rabin, head of athlete care and team chiropractor, has been in contact with Neilson daily.

“The pain came on quite aggressively,” Rabin said. “We’ve been working on putting him right. He had something similar in his left knee last year, which is why he was so mindful about leaving the race because he didn’t want to aggravate it.”

“This happens in any given year, of course,” said team CEO Jonathan Vaughters. “One rider is having problems and another one of your really talented riders is on top of his game. Right now, Neilson is having problems and Alberto is on top of his game. Last year, it was the exact opposite. Of course I would love it if both of them were on top of their games at the same time, but that’s not the case. The priority is to let Neilson rest up and make sure his injury is completely healed and that he is completely healthy and ready to go. And that’s when he’ll come back to racing.”

Neilson has made sure to take advantage of the time on his hands when he wasn’t training.

“It’s been so nice to have Frances and Charlotte,” he said of his wife and infant daughter, respectively. “Being able to spend extra time with him has helped me handle the situation. Normally, this would probably be the most intense training and racing period of the year apart from the Tour de France. My family has been supporting me really well.”

Though he misses racing, he also recognizes that resting his knee has been helpful.

“It was definitely hard to just watch Milano-Sanremo. I was screaming for Bettiol and, at the same time, I just wanted to be there so badly. But I know we’ve made the right decision with me not racing there. It’s quite a few hands on deck at the team to get me healthy and that’s made me feel like I’ve been getting well looked after. I have a lot of good people taking care of me and looking out for me, so I’m confident we’ve been making the right calls so far,” Neilson said.

Now that the irritation has died down, Neilson has done a few days of training at around ninety percent of his usual intensity and has been pain-free.

“I’m really happy that he’s making progress,” Rabin said. “We expect he will resume his normal training on Tuesday. He’s on the right path.”

The team has yet to determine when Neilson will return to racing.

“So long as I can do a full week’s training or so without any problems, then we’ll start to decide on a return race,” Neilson said. “I’m just itching for it but I have a lot of people looking out for me and I appreciate that.”