Neilson Powless, 18

Roseville

Neilson Powless spends his time traveling the world with the USA Cycling team. 

He is one of the top mountain bikers in the country, but also trains for road cycling with the U.S. team in Europe. He was gradually introduced to the sport as a child and says he “tried almost every sport under the sun—from boxing to swim team—but always seemed to do best with endurance sports like cross-country and triathlons.” 

Powless finished his junior year of high school with an eighth place finish in D2 State Championships for cross-country running and first started racing with the USA Mountain Biking team before making the transition to road cycling, which is what he currently does. When not cycling, Powless says he can be found “eating, sleeping or trying to recover for the next race, which is the next day most of the time.”

 When he is home, he tries to hang out with friends as much as possible or watch Netflix. His favorite cyclist is Greg LeMond, as he is still the only American to ever win the Tour de France now that Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis have been stripped of their titles. His advice to the under-20 community is: “Find something you love to do, and devote yourself completely to whatever that thing is.”

—Rachel Meeker

FAVORITES

Escape: Hawaii seems like the best place to escape

Guilty pleasure: Frozen yogurt with lots of caramel

Meal in town: Sushi 

Local landmark: The State Capitol 

Movie: Apocalypse Now (1979)

Musician/band: G-Eazy 

Saying: “It never gets easier, you just go faster.”—Greg LeMond