Neilson Powless could hardly believe what he had just done at the finish of Dwars door Vlaanderen. The American rounded the final corner of the Flemish cobbled classic outnumbered three to one, on the wheel of one of the greatest sprinters and classics riders of his generation. The finish line flashed ahead him and he went, charging out of the bend past one, two, three yellow jerseys.

Neilson let out a whoop and flung his arms in the air, as he crossed the line.

“I really can’t believe it. I felt really strong today but I didn’t think I had a chance to win from that group,” Neilson said at the finish. “I thought I was riding for second place. I’m so happy. I just want to say thank you to my family, my team, everyone for supporting me. It’s been a rough spring for me so far but today I really am so happy to be back to where I know I can be.”

The Flemish fans were stunned after the finish. For the last 75 kilometers of the race, they were sure of the outcome. Few would have placed a bet on Neilson, who had got ahead of the big Visma Lease-a-Bike attack and hung on over the final climbs and cobbled sectors superbly, never missing a turn, as Mikkel Honoré, Marijn van den Berg, and Harry Sweeny marked moves in the group behind.

“It was a constant inner struggle,” Neilson said. “Even my director in the car was kind of going back and forth on whether or not I should ride because we did have quite a few numbers behind until there was a group of six that got away, but I felt really good. I felt really solid on the cobbles. I didn’t want to sprint from a bigger group. It didn’t feel like it would cost me too much to contribute to the group and keep everyone moving because otherwise they would have been attacking me and I probably would have been dropped so it was a rock and a hard place but I’m proud of the way I rode.”

Going into the final sprint, Neilson knew the odds were against him, but that didn’t phase him one bit. He rounded the corner and threw every watt of power he had into the pedals.

“I thought Wout [van Aert] was going to be the strongest in the sprint. They were really betting on him,” Neilson said. “I never thought in a million years I would beat him in a sprint in a race like this, but I think I came in with a little bit of speed in the final corner and I already had maybe 3, 4 k/hr faster than Wout when he started his sprint. I just went all the way to the line. I was able to carry the speed quite well. There’s not a lot of space between that last corner and the finish line so I just had to start my sprint immediately and pray.”

Fortune was smiling down on the Californian, as he hurtled down the finishing straight. Neilson powered home to take the biggest win of his career.

He and his EF Education-EasyPost teammates now have their sights set on the next big prize: this Sunday’s Ronde van Vlaanderen.