The American rider has been sidelined since the spring with a knee injury, but following surgery and a steady rehabilitation program, the 29-year-old has been cleared to race and is eager to make the most of the second half of the season.

“I’ve been out of racing since the Tour de la Provence in February, but that month I had surgery, and it’s been a pretty long process. I was off the bike for five weeks initially, and when I restarted, we kept the recovery conservative. That basically meant doing 20 to thirty minutes a day on the bike for about two weeks. Slowly we built things up, and for the last eight or nine weeks I’ve been riding pain-free, and it seems like the injury is completely in the past. The knee is handling the load really well, and we’ve been able to set some goals,” Neilson said.

“I’ll be restarting my season in Austria, and I think that this will be a really nice race to get going in again. I’m looking forward to getting back into the peloton, and feeling like a bike racer for EF Education-EasyPost again,” he added.

While Neilson is eager to jump back into action and make up for lost time, he’s also realistic about his ambitions for his first race back. The five-day Tour of Austria has several stages that suit the American rider, but he heads into the event with no pressure in terms of the GC. It will be a case of taking the race day-by-day and picking opportunities as they arise.

“I’m hungry for competition, that’s for sure, but the main goal is to get through the race in one piece and come out of it in better shape than I went into it. There’s not a huge amount of pressure at this point, but this is a good, hard race, and I do hope that I can compete for stages on a few days that suit me. The fitness isn’t quite there in terms of looking at the overall standings, but this race should push me towards where I need to be for the second half of the season,” Neilson said.

The rest of Neilson’s schedule will be finalized in the coming weeks, but one certainty is that he’s raring to go.

“The team have been super supportive throughout this whole process. The only pressure that I’ve felt is the pressure that I’ve put on myself to get back to racing. The team have been really thoughtful when it’s come to creating a plan of action and looking at what I’ve needed. They’ve always erred on the side of caution and moved things along as patiently as possible in order to make sure that I’ve healed completely. I’m in a really good place because of that,” he said.

That’s great to hear and we can’t wait to see you in action, Neilson!