After just two days of racing this season, Neilson Powless is facing up to three months out of action after a knee injury flared up during the Tour de la Provence earlier this month.
He will miss the upcoming Spring Classics on his schedule: Trofeo Laigueglia, Strade Bianche, Milano-Torino and Milan-San Remo.
The 29-year-old underwent surgery to remove inflamed tissue from his left knee on Monday at the AZ Herentals Hospital in Belgium and is now optimistic that the issue is gone for good.
"At least now we can say that the problem is solved and I can move forward with a clear path of recovery," Powless said in an EF Education-EasyPost press release.
Powless scored one of the most impressive victories of his career in Dwars door Vlaanderen last March, outsmarting three Visma-Lease a Bike riders – Wout van Aert, Matteo Jorgenson and Tiejs Benoot – in the four-man winning breakaway.
"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," he said.
"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."
Powless' knee problem plagued him during the offseason, preventing him from riding or even walking without pain until it healed, prompting him to delay his season start. He thought he had the injury beat before starting in France, but on the third stage, the pain returned.
"Over the course of the last two months, I had three scans of my knee and the first two showed really promising recovery," he 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."
The doctors recommended that Powless take eight to 12 weeks off the bike to ensure a full recovery.
"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," Powless said. "It will be a couple of months before I can plan a race, but it's nice to have a clear plan of recovery."
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