He will require eight to twelve weeks to recover from the surgery. The American is disappointed to miss the classics, but encouraged that he is now on the road to full health.

“At least now we can say that the problem is solved and I can move forward with a clear path of recovery,” Neilson said.

“It is extremely disappointing to be missing out on the classics. I was excited to try some new races this year. 
I had a plan of races I wanted to target and do well in, so this is a big disappointment. This spring will be a recovery period for me. I'll be able to watch my teammates on TV and spend extra time with my family, and hopefully bring some extra motivation and energy for the second half of the season. This is not something that's going to take me out for a really long time, but it's something that we will need to be cautious with. It will be a couple of months before I can plan a race, but it's nice to have a clear plan of recovery.”

Knee inflammation hampered Neilson throughout the winter. After delaying the start of his season, he was able to put together a block of pain-free training and make a return to racing at the Tour de la Provence; however, pain returned on the third stage of that race, and Neilson was forced to stop. After consulting our medical team and knee specialists at the AZ Herentals Hospital in Belgium, Neilson opted for surgery.

“Over the course of the last two months, I had three scans of my knee and the first two showed really promising recovery,” Neilson said. “After the second one, I was able to return to training pain-free, which was promising. I was even feeling strong enough to go to a race and start my preparations for the season, but on the third day of the race, I felt pain again and had to stop. I had another scan done, and it showed that the inflammation had never fully gone away, even though I couldn't feel it. Surgery was going to give me the highest chance of success, so we opted for surgery. It’s my first surgery ever, but I was in good hands with the doctors here. Together, with the medical staff from the team, we were always making decisions together, and everyone's on the same page about recovery and where to go from here.”

EF Pro Cycling Head Doctor Jon Greenwell expects Neilson to make a full recovery and be ready to resume training in eight to twelve weeks.

“Surgery to remove the inflammatory tissue gave us a much better chance of a permanent fix,” Greenwell said. “The operation went well, and after the eight- to twelve-week recovery window, Neilson will be able to return to riding with no long-term impairment from the injury.”

Rest up, Neilson!