Mihkels' team signed a long-term contract with a key cyclist

Mihkelsi tiim sõlmis võtmeratturiga pika lepingu

Madis Mihkels' home team, EF Education-EasyPost, has signed a four-year contract with Neilson Powless following his standout season. The 29-year-old American secured two victories this year, the most notable of which was undoubtedly his first-place finish at Dwars door Vlaanderen, where he outpaced three Visma–Lease a Bike riders, outsmarting Wout van Aert, Matteo Jorgenson, and Tiesj Benoot.

"I never would have thought that I would try to win a cobblestone classic, but it happened this year. Now, I am very motivated to solidify that result and build my spring season around the Monuments," said Powless. "I haven’t won a Monument yet. That is definitely a goal I want to achieve. But just the fact that I’ve been able to be in the mix in every Monument I’ve started shows what a versatile and complete athlete I have become. That makes cycling extremely fun because I can go into every race and be in the center of the action."

After his victory in April, Powless achieved top-ten finishes at Brabantse Pijl, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and Eschborn–Frankfurt, before earning his second win of the season at the GP Gippingen. He finished the season with strong performances in San Sebastián, the GP de Montréal, and Gran Piemonte.

"Before joining this team, I didn’t think I could be a classics rider," said Powless. "This team is famous for its out-of-the-box tactics. The fact that I’m allowed to race the classics, or the way Ben [Healy] rode into the yellow jersey at the Tour, or even the way we race the Tour every year – it all shows that. That makes this a really great team to ride for. Our tactics are always exciting, and there are many opportunities for many riders here. That has helped me develop. I’ve found my niche in cycling. Opportunistic riding in very hard races has really paid off. That’s how I’ve learned to race, and that’s how I want to continue riding. This team is simply the perfect environment for that."

Powless joined the team in 2020 after two seasons with Visma. Starting as a climber, he showed promise as a stage racer during the 2022 Tour de France, where he finished 12th in the general classification, narrowly missing out on the yellow leader's jersey. Since then, he has focused on the classics.

"I’ve developed into an opportunistic one-day racer who can compete on almost any terrain – on cobblestones, in the mountains, on the flat, on circuits, or just in very long point-to-point races like Sanremo. I think I’ve developed into a very complete cyclist during my time on this team. The way we go into races and chase results has brought that out in me. I am very happy and proud of the rider I’ve become," said Powless.

EF Pro Cycling CEO Jonathan Vaughters explained why the team extended Powless’s contract by four years.

"We all know that Neilson’s work ethic is almost unparalleled. He trains as hard as he possibly can, right up until the day he can no longer compete," said Vaughters. "That is characteristic of him. I have no doubt that his level will continue to be very high. Gradually, he is also learning real race craft. In previous years, Neilson was like a bull in a china shop, solving problems simply with power. Now he is learning to be a real bike racer. His race craft and ability to read the race tactically have improved significantly. That will help him achieve even better results in the long run. He can win more races because he is a better bike racer now than he was before," Vaughters explained.

As of 2026, EF Education-EasyPost has signed 29 riders.