Neilson Powless: How embracing his Native American background shaped US cycling star 

To this day, Neilson Powless remains the sole tribally recognised Native North American to compete in the Tour de France, the world's biggest stage race, which he completed for the fourth time in his career last month.

The road cyclist's Native American heritage comes from his late grandfather Matthew, who belonged to the Oneida tribe.

However, growing up in Roseville, California, Powless did not have a Native American cyclist to look up to.

Instead, he drew inspiration from his grandfather during visits to the Stockbridge Reservation outside Green Bay, Wisconsin. A skilled craftsman and carpenter, who could fix any problem that came his way with his big, strong, calloused hands.

“He always used to say if you're working with one hand, you get half the pay,” the EF Education-EasyPost rider told Olympics.com ahead of the 2023 UCI road World Championships.

“He said whatever you're doing, it's all in two hands, or you don't deserve to be doing it. He was a super hard worker, and he expected nothing less from anyone else. If you're going to be working on something, you commit fully to it. That's definitely something I've taken forward through my whole life.”

Now, Powless hopes his journey, which made him the first Native North American at the Tour de France, can be a source of motivation for others.

“I guess it does feel special to have that sort of title and recognition of being the first. I just hope that some people out there can draw inspiration from that,” the American said.

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An active childhood

It seemed almost inevitable that Powless would follow the path of a professional athlete.

Both of his parents were professional triathletes, and from the earliest moments he can recall, they engaged him and his sister Shayna in various physical activities.

“My parents really loved, being outside and being active. They just brought my sister and I along doing what they loved to do. That's how I grew up. It was just normal to be swimming, biking, running basically every day. There's no first memory of any of these sports, it has always been a part of my life,” Powless said.

Both Neilson and Shayna embraced an active lifestyle and relished competing with each other. As they grew older, they started participating in cross-country running races and embarked on road trips across the country for various competitions.

Later on, Neilson also delved into triathlons, road cycling and mountain biking, all of which require costly equipment. But with help from outside, he was able to take part in them too.

“I grew up around great people and sponsors that would help me. Whether it was bikes, clothing, helmets or shoes, I would always take hand-me-downs from people I knew and be racing in shoes that were three, four sizes too big. But I knew I'd grow into them one day and I'd be okay.” Powless explained.

“That just adds to the payoff in the end, knowing where you came from. Back then you're changing bikes every week, because you're borrowing bikes from people that keep racing. If you can make it while doing that, then you probably have good chances of making it in the world tour, because you're adaptable and just a good athlete, not just because you have good equipment.”

For a while, the American was dividing his time between different sports, before he finally decided that it is was in cycling that he wanted to pursue a career.

“I always wanted to become a professional athlete, but I didn't know if that was going to be in running, triathlon or cycling. By the time I was 19 or 20, that's when a few more opportunities started opening up in the road cycling world. I just pursued those opportunities and was able to capitalize on them.”

At the age of 19, Powless signed a contract with the US-based continental team Axeon Hagens Berman. Meanwhile, he had started his studies, trying to find the right balance between cycling and school.

“My parents told me I had to keep going to school until I could afford to live on my own and support myself with my athletics. So, I still went to community college for a year. Then when I was 20 years old, that's when I got my first World Tour contract,” Powless said.

“I continued with some online schooling for a few years, but road cycling and traveling the world is so time consuming that I've had to just commit to cycling. I've got about two years of university under my belt. So that's nice. I may or may not go back to it.”

The significance of being Native American

When Powless was growing up in California, he did not think much about his roots: “It’s just your family,” he thought as a child, and when he moved to Europe to join Team LottoNL-Jumbo in 2018, he primarily identified himself as a cyclist.

However, the attention drawn to his name through his Tour de France participation, prompted the 2021 Clasica San Sebastián winner to embrace his Native American background more wholeheartedly.

“It’s what I centred my identity around, just knowing where your roots come from. It gives you a lot. I've been trying to put more importance on that through educating myself on history and reading biographies and things like that on Native Americans,” Powless explained.

Some of the traditions and rituals that Neilson witnessed during his visits to the reservations, are still being upheld by his father.

“My dad always makes sure that whatever new apartment I'm living in or new place I'm going, there's always a tobacco ritual to bring good luck,” Neilson said.

Thinking back on his childhood visits to the reservations, Powless cherishes numerous fond memories, such as the pow wows, ceremonies where people gathered to socialise, dance, sing, and honour their cultures.

During one of these pow wows, his grandfather even became a champion in the 'smoke dance'.

“It was always great to watch those. It was really fun events, when multiple tribes can come together and compete against each other in dance competitions**.** It's a full auditory and visual experience being able to watch a pow wow dance competition. I never competed, but I remember watching my grandpa and he was awesome,” Neilson recalled.

At 26 years old, the American has become increasingly vocal about his roots, aspiring to make bicycles more accessible in the reservations. He also aims to provide support for his sister Shayna and her fiancé's foundation, the Dream Catcher Foundation. This organization aids children in reservations by providing sports equipment and athletic mentorship.

World Championships: Breaking US podium drought?

On Sunday 6 August, the road race World Championships will take place in Glasgow, Scotland, with Powless among the six riders to represent the US team.

An American has not stood on the podium in this race since Lance Armstrong became world champion in 1993.

Despite it being 30 years since the last American achieved a top-three result, Powless maintains high hopes for this year's race.

“The ambition is always to win every race I go to, and Worlds would be no less. I feel podiums are a realistic goal that I can set and hope to achieve,” Powless said.

The EF Education-EasyPost rider holds a fifth-place finish from Leuven 2021 as his best result at the World Championships.

Looking further ahead, Powless rules out competing for the GC in Grand Tours, however, he does have a clear objective for the future: “I just hope that I can win something in the Tour de France in the coming years, whether it's a stage, or jersey. It's the biggest, most important race of the year. It’s still a race that I really want to get a lot out of,” he concluded.