The EF Pro Cycling Explore series, presented by Wahoo

When Neilson Powless started racing X-Terra triathlons with his sister back home in Northern California, he just wanted to spend time outside and rip around the trails near his house. His first love was mountain-biking. It was his best discipline in those off-road triathlons, and when he got to high-school, there were all sorts of chances for him to compete in California’s mountain-bike league. Soon, he was travelling with the US national team, racing junior world cups and championships against the world’s most talented mountain-bikers. Race in and race out, Neilson proved he was one of them.

Then he decided he wanted to have a go on the road.

Neilson has progressed steadily since he turned pro in 2018, thanks to his hard-work and diligent approach to training. In 2020, Neilson Powless became the first tribally recognized Native North American to race the Tour de France. The next year, our rising American star won Spain’s greatest one-day race, the Clásica San Sebastián, and finished fifth at the world championships in Belgium. Neilson was stellar in 2022. After a strong campaign in the Ardennes, he finished fourth on GC at the Tour de Suisse and lit up the Tour de France. He finished the year off with a victory at the Japan Cup.

This year has been his best yet. Neilson won his first race of 2023: the Grand Prix Cycliste de Marseille. He then won the overall at Étoile de Bèsseges and stormed the Flemish classics, finishing third at Dwars door Vlaanderen and fifth at De Ronde in his debut campaign on the cobbles. Neilson now has his sights set on the Tour de France.

Neilson lives in Nice, France with his wife during the racing season. He enjoys exploring their new city and relaxing on the beach after hard rides through the Alps.

If he can find time in his schedule, Neilson would like to get back to his roots, and do some off-road alternative racing in 2023.

Lachlan Morton’s cycling career has been anything but traditional. Though he got his start in road cycling, the thirty-one-year-old is best known for the alternative calendar and his long-distance rides. In recent years, he has taken his love of cycling and used it to benefit others.

In early 2022, he rode in a single push from Munich to Korczowa-Krakovets on the Polish-Ukrainian border, covering 1,064 kilometers in 42 hours and raising over $250,000 for Ukrainian refugees. The previous year, Lachlan rode the Alt Tour which saw him ride every stage of the Tour de France, plus transfers, unsupported. He tallied 5,500 kilometers, beat the Tour de France peloton to Paris by five days and, most significantly, raised over $700,000 for World Bicycle Relief.

Over the years, the Australian has joined forces with his brother Gus in the “Thereabouts” documentary series. Their films are dedicated to exploring new perspectives on the world — and their place in it — from their bikes.

Lachlan has ridden bikes for as long as he can remember. As a high school student, he regularly rose at 4:30 a.m. to train before going to class. While most teenagers would be put off by such an early start, Lachlan cherished the time on his own. He still does. He recently completed the 530-mile high-altitude Colorado Trail mountain-bike route solo in just three days, ten hours, and 15 minutes, and raised $12,000 for his late friend Sule Kangangi’s family. He set the fastest known time on Menorca’s Camí de Cavalls 360º solo.

This year, Lachlan will have more freedom than ever before. Who knows what adventures he is going to get up to…