Neilson Powless: Having pneumonia kinda sucked 🇺🇸 🤒
The American exclusively tells us about his time off the bike this winter and his race plans for 2025 as he hits the Volta ao Algarve
Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) arrived at the Volta ao Algarve to boost his form for Paris-Nice and the Spring Classics, which will form the basis of his early-season targets. However, not long ago, the American all-star was at home recovering from a case of pneumonia that he’d picked up at the start of the year.
Now back on the bike and healthy, and with 23rd at the Figueira Champions Classic in his legs, the 28-year-old is ready to test his legs in Algarve.
“I’m feeling good. Figueira gave me a nice little confidence boost. I had pneumonia a few weeks ago, and I wasn’t sure where I was going to end up, but I’ve recovered pretty well, and I’m getting better each day. It was like four weeks off, and on that, I was sick. I don’t know how, but every time I returned, I had a week healthy and then a week sick. It was like a lingering infection that wouldn’t go away, but luckily, I finally got on some antibiotics and kicked it. It kinda sucked. I wasn’t sure when it was going to clear; the mucus in my lungs was lingering for so long. It was really annoying. I just tried to think positively. It was early season in January and into February. At least it didn’t take me out of any races,” he told us at the start of stage 1.