Neilson Powless outsprinted Wout van Aert to win Dwars door Vlaanderen on Wednesday and spoil the party for Visma-Lease a Bike.
The EF Education-EasyPost rider had appeared to be the huge underdog as the race reached its finale in Waregem. He went clear with Matteo Jorgenson, Van Aert and Tiesj Benoot after the Visma trio bridged across to the head of the race with more than 70 kilometres to the finish. Powless sat on as Jorgenson and Benoot looked to set up their teammate in the finishing straight before the former unleashed a fierce sprint which saw him topple Van Aert and pull off a huge upset.
It was the second consecutive victory for America at the cobbled classic after Jorgenson’s triumph last year. Benoot completed the podium for Visma with Jorgenson coming home in fourth.
"I really can’t believe it," Powless said at the finish on TV after catching his breath. "I felt really strong today but I didn't think I had any chance to win from that group. I thought I was riding for second place. I can’t believe it, I'm so happy. I want to thank my family, my team, and everyone for supporting me. It's been a rough spring so far, but I'm so happy to be back."
"I never thought in a million years I would beat him in a sprint in a race like this," he continued. "I came in with a bit of speed in the final corner and I already had maybe three or four kilometres an hour faster than Wout when he started his sprint.
"I just went all the way to the line and I was able to carry that speed quite well. There isn’t a lot of space between that last corner and the finish line, so I just had to start my sprint immediately and pray."
After finding himself alone with Van Aert and his colleagues, there was the odd moment where he appeared to be growing frustrated with Visma’s attempts to force him to the front of the lead group.
"It was a constant inner struggle," he explained. "Even my director in the car was going back and forth on whether I should ride. I didn’t want to sprint from a bigger group and it didn’t feel like it cost me too much just to contribute a bit to the group to keep everyone moving, otherwise they would have been attacking me and I would have been dropped. It was a rock and a hard place, but I’m proud of the way I rode."
"This is the biggest win of my life," he added. "I hope I can fight for the win [at the Tour of Flanders], at least fight for the podium. In these races you need a bit of luck, but you also need a bit of confidence. I think I gained one of those today."
How it happened
Much of the pre-race noise coming into the final cobbled classic before the Tour of Flanders centred on one man, Wout van Aert. By his own admission, the 30-year-old Belgian was disappointed with his performance at the E3 Saxo Classic on Friday and had a few scores to settle before Sunday's showdown with Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar.
Would Van Aert and his teammates come out swinging? The answer was yes. With 70 kilometres left to race, Matteo Jorgenson, Tiesj Benoot, Edoardo Affini and Van Aert himself burst clear from the peloton ahead of the Berg Ten Houte climb and went in search of the remnants of the day’s breakaway. Affini soon dropped away as the quartet reached the summit and quickly passed Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) before making contact with the head of the race.
Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) was the only rider able to hold the pace set by the flying Visma trio as Jorgenson drove them on up the Knokteberg and Hotondberg climbs. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) repeatedly attempted to force a split in the main field and instigate a move to go after the leading riders. The peloton, however, lacked cohesion and was unable to get organised as the race began to get away from them with the Van Aert group showing no signs of relenting.
With 32 kilometres to go, the much-reduced main field visibly sat up with EF Education knocking off the pace in order to help Powless up ahead. Pedersen, Girmay, Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) and Jasper Stuyven were all there but had 44 seconds still to close in order to reach the breakaway.
Pedersen would not give up and was on the attack again from the second group on the Nokereberg, pushing clear and taking Küng and several others with him. The Dane was doing much of the pace setting in a bid to salvage a result for Lidl-Trek as tension started to appear amongst the leading quartet. Powless was visibly frustrated with the Visma riders, perhaps sensing that it would take something miraculous to finish on the podium in Waregem with Jorgenson, Van Aert and Benoot all firmly in control of proceedings. But there was drama still to come.
Jorgenson took the leading four into the final sweeping right-hand bend before the finish and then peeled off for Benoot to lead out Van Aert. Powless, though, wasn’t going to simply bow down and accept that he was beaten. The American hung on at the back of the group before unleashing a powerful sprint that took him past the Van Aert and over the line to seal the win.
Dwars door Vlaanderen 2025 (184.5 km)
1. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education EasyPost, in 3:57:14
2. Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike
3. Tiesj Benoot (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike, both at same time
4. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +5s
5. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek, +45s
6. Tibor del Grosso (Ned) Alpecin-Deceuninck, at same time
7. Dries de Bondt (Bel) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +47s
8. Arjen Livyns (Bel) Lotto
9. Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
10. Alec Segaert (Bel) Lotto, all at same time
