Neilson Powless won the Gran Piemonte (1.Pro) on Thursday, a one-day cycling race over 182 kilometers between Valdengo and Borgomanero in Italy. The American from the EF Education-EasyPost team raised his arms alone on the line, ahead of the sprint of the chasing group set by the New Zealander Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech) ahead of the Spaniard Alex Aranburu (Movistar). Xandro Meurisse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) ranked 5th behind the Italian Filippo Magli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè).
The course began with a first half without any real difficulty. After 110 kilometers, the peloton arrived at the foot of the Passo delle Colma (8.6 km at 5.5%), followed by the climbs of Cremosina (4.9 km at 2.9%) and Traversagna (3, 1 km at 4.1%) It was in the ascent of Cremosina, more than 40 kilometers from the finish, that Powless drew his victory. The American attacked the group of favorites, reduced to around twenty units including the Slovenian Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious), the Italian Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and Alex Aranburu.
Neilson Powless took around ten seconds ahead of his closest pursuers. If his lead did not peak beyond 20 seconds, he nevertheless held the gap when facing the last two kilometers on a false flat. Finally, he crossed the line 7 seconds ahead of those who competed for 2nd place in the sprint. Back in the group of around forty men, Strong took 2nd place ahead of Aranburu.
Almost two years have passed since Neilson Powless’ last victory, when he won the general classification of the Étoile de Bessèges in February 2023. This is his 5th career success.
In 2023, the Italian Andrea Bagioli won the Piedmont race. Jan Bakelants is the last Belgian to have entered his name on the list in 2015, while Philippe Gilbert won the 2009 and 2010 editions.
