Neilson Powless Finishes Top-20 in Elite Men’s Road Race World Championship

September 25, 2022

Scott McGill stayed in the lead group for the majority of the race, pushing the pace for over 200 km.

September 25, 2022, WOLLONGONG, Australia /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – On the last day of the 2022 UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia, Team USA competed in the Elite Men’s Road Race, contesting 267 km throughout New South Wales.

Elite Men

Neilson Powless (Roseville, Calif.; EF Education-EasyPost), Magnus Sheffield (Pittsford, N.Y.; Ineos Grenadiers), Scott McGill (Fallston, Md.; Wildlife Generation), Kyle Murphy (Washington, D.C.; Human Powered Health), and Keegan Swenson (Park City Utah; Santa Cruz Bicycles) lined up for the Elite Men’s Road Race.

One hour and 39 minutes into the race, a break of eleven riders broke away from the field, including 24-year-old McGill. A 5-person chase caught the bridged to the lead group, growing their numbers and increasing the pace, pushing the gap between the leaders and the main field to as large as 6 minutes.

This lead group stuck for 191 km, but the pace from the peloton was dialed up as the race went through the Mount Pleasant climb for the eighth time. Attacks started regularly coming, from both the lead group and the peloton, making for very dynamic racing. After his hard work at the front, McGill was dropped but continued riding strong. The lead group narrowed down to eight riders, but a group of 25 were on the chase, including McGill and Powless. The chase held strong, closing the gap to the leaders, keeping them within 30-seconds.

At 55 km to go, the chase caught the leaders, attacks picking up the pace. At that point, two Americans were in the lead group with McGill and Powless. One by one, riders attacked at the front in an unrelenting drive to the finish, including Powless attacking with 40 km to go. Finally, Alexey Lutsenko (KAZ) attacked, but Remco Evenpoel (BEL) wouldn’t let him go, counterattacked, and broke away from the leaders.

On the penultimate lap, Evenpol extended his lead to over a minute, soloing off the front to eventually win the World Championship. The top American for the day, Powless, finished in the final bunch sprint taking 18^th place, along with McGill finishing with a ride he could be proud of.

Results

1. Remco Evenpoel (BEL) – 6:16:08

2. Christophe Laporte (FRA) – +2:21

3. Michael Matthews (AUS) – +2:21

18. Neilson Powless (USA) – +2:21

73. Keegan Swenson (USA) – +6:37

78. Magnus Sheffield (USA) – +6:37

86. Scott McGill (USA) – +10:23

DNF. Kyle Murphy (USA)

Visit USACycling.org for more information about athletes, events, and membership programs. Follow @USACycling across all channels for the latest on Team USA.

For more information, please contact Angelina Palermo at apalermo@usacycling.org.

ABOUT USA CYCLING

USA Cycling is the national governing body for the sport of cycling and oversees the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclocross, and BMX. USA Cycling’s mission is to champion accessibility, participation, and excellence in the sport of cycling to make more Americans healthier, happier, and better on two wheels while achieving sustained international racing success. USA Cycling supports cyclists at all levels, from those just beginning in the sport and participating in fun rides to international caliber racers. The organization identifies, develops, and selects cyclists to represent the United States in international competition through the support of kids’ and interscholastic programs, amateur bike racing and grassroots development programs, and the provision of critical infrastructure to run organized racing. USA Cycling has a membership of 100,000, annually sanctions over 2,500 events, and is a proud member of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).