2023-07-03 19:29:21
Neilson Powless celebrated it as a victory. This Monday, July 3, at the top of the last listed summit of the day, the Orioko Benta coast, about 90 km from the finish in Bayonne, the 26-year-old American runner clenched his fist, joyful, shaking it twice . He had, however, only just taken the lead in a humble third category, with a narrow road and charming hairpin bends. For him, the plan had worked perfectly. He was sure to keep his polka dot jersey, that of the best climber.
The stage was dedicated to sprinters, thanks to its flat finish and by the will of the peloton, who had had enough of the previous weekend to give themselves combed. Big thigh Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Deceunick took advantage. The kind of increasingly rare days on the Tour. The couriers were able to admire the Basque landscapes, whistling between beech and fern forests and seaside towns, along an Atlantic Ocean caressing the many tourists in the water with its waves.
In an atmosphere of stopping on a beach to take a dip and eat an ice cream, Neilson Powless took to his heels from the first kilometers, like a teenager escaping from the camp bus to go forage behind a boot of straw with her lover. For that, it takes two and the lucky winner of the day, the happy lover, was Laurent Pichon.
Member of the gratin
Without disrespecting the Arkéa Samsic rider, the two cyclists do not belong to the same category. The Frenchman, an honest 36-year-old teammate, with two victories in Coupe de France races, is only competing in his second Tour. It has the typical and historical profile of the modest taking the so-called “advertising” breakaways. Those which we know from the start that they will not go to the end but which allow the sponsor’s jersey to be shown for a few hours on television.
In theory, Neilson Powless shouldn’t be there, leaving for the boarding without any chance of winning the stage, like the day before. This year, he won the Etoile de Bessèges, finished sixth in Paris-Nice, seventh in Milan San-Remo, fifth in the Tour of Flanders. Last year, he even approached the top 10 overall in the Grande Boucle (12th). The boy belongs to the gratin, capable of being very well placed in classics and one-week races. He would do well to stay warm, not to expend too much energy, while waiting for the prestigious stages dedicated to climbers.
So why does he embark on such adventures? For the 300 euros allocated to the first passing the summits? Probably not when his annual salary is around 900,000 euros. For the 2 points given to the polka dot jersey by a “3rd category” pass crossed in the lead, to bring the shirt back to Paris? Neither. As soon as it really goes up, the number of winnable points is without common measure and, if he does not have the legs, he will quickly lose it. Just out of passion? Maybe… After all, the heart has its reasons… and the calves comply. “I’m already in love with the polka dot jersey,” Neilson Powless said on Sunday night. “I fell in love with it immediately, actually,” he repeated. If it’s his new cuddly toy, we can understand the desire not to return it. But the boy with the face of an angel is also a clever one.
good face
Last year, his EF-Education EasyPost team had already done the pirouette in Copenhagen, sending mustachioed Danish hipster Magnus Cort Nielsen on an expedition on Scandinavian roads, acclaimed by all his people. The images were beautiful, as much as her pink Crocs sandals. 2023, again: in addition to the time spent on live screen, it is also the guarantee of reserving a place of choice for the first episodes of season 2 of the Tour de France: at the heart of the peloton.
The Netflix series is a success, especially with a curious audience unfamiliar with professional cycling. The boss of EF, Jonathan Vaughters, former teammate of Lance Armstrong, plays one of the main roles. The skilful punchliner, repentant of the EPO, understood perfectly that it was necessary to dramatize the event. In the first season, he explains that if his formation does not win, it will close shop. It would be a shame, because it was created with the aim of “promoting anti-doping and making it cool”. For anti-doping we don’t know, but their jersey, fluorescent pink, for sure, it’s cool (to be pronounced with an American accent). In this context, the victory has only a relative importance, so much the worse for the individual desires of prize list. “The Tour de France is so big that, as soon as you do a little something, it becomes remarkable. You don’t even have to win a stage, just lead a classification, knowing very well that you won’t win this jersey at the end”, Magnus Cort Nielsen explained to us.
We can already imagine Jonathan Vaughters, in front of the Netflix cameras, again putting Bayonne in a box of Pariès chocolates to enhance the performance of Neilson Powless. It will be mounted in contrast to the pain of Richard Carapaz, the unfortunate leader of the team, fractured kneecap. And then Powless has the perfect profile to be loved: good face, reputation for being nice, he was the first Amerindian to compete in the Tour de France, being a quarter Oneida, an Iroquois nation. Plus, he has the right answer to the dangerous question for an American: he prefers good Lemond to bad Armstrong. If the ideal son-in-law was a member of the MPCC, the movement for credible cycling, very committed pros against cheating, it would have been even better. Nobody is perfect.
In Bayonne, Neilson Powless crossed the finish line two minutes after the peloton, in the last. With smile. In the mixed zone, we asked him if “it was worth it, to go on a breakaway like that”? He hesitated for a moment: “Hmmm, I wanted the first point and after that it wasn’t too difficult, so I continued. When I was picked up, I found it was harder in the peloton, so I was happy to be in front. A few moments later, he hugged his wife, intensely, in front of the photographers. She is a ballet dancer. She taught him to dance, and to make us dance.
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