The American fought his way back to an elite group of five on the last lap of the Swiss semi-classic and took off alone with 3.1 kilometers to go. His attack was genius. Using a traffic island for a shield, he took advantage of a lull at the front of the group to launch up the left side of the road as the group drifted right and used his momentum to get a great gap. As soon as he was clear, Neilson was away to the races. The group behind chased hard, but no one could catch him as he time trialed to the line.

“I was on the lookout for a good moment to go. One popped up, I reacted immediately, and just went all in on it,” Neilson said after celebrating his win with his teammates. “It was on a false flat downhill and I knew at that speed that I was going to benefit from the draft from almost 50 meters behind the group, so if I could give them 10 or 15 meters that would give me enough space to get a run at them. It was just some real good old-school bike racing and super fun to execute.  I'm getting pretty decent at picking these late moves before a flat finish after a hard day. Today, I had the fitness to back it up.”

Neilson’s GP Gippingen victory is a confirmation of his form, going into the biggest races of the year. The 173.8-km circuit race around Leuggern in the Swiss canton of Aargau was his first race back after an altitude camp in Sierra Nevada and a tough test ahead of the Tour de Suisse, which starts Sunday. The Tour de France is on the horizon and Neilson is coming into his own.

“ It gives me a lot of confidence going into the summer,” Neilson said. “I think I nailed the altitude training this year. In the past, I've always felt a bit tired after coming down to sea level, so I tried to really keep a lid on things and prioritize freshness. That seems to have paid off and I am really happy about that.”

At the Tour de Suisse, Neilson and his teammates are going to race with the same verve.

“ Our goal is to come away with one or more stage wins,” Neilson said. “I'll have to see how my legs are reacting on the longer climbs. In the first stage I'll already know if I have legs to try for GC, but today showed that I've got a good kick and my fitness is there. We’ll be looking for opportunities in the first three days. I think there's a really good chance that we can win one of those stages with either myself or Madis Mihkels or Vincenzo Albanese. We've got a lot of cards to play. It would be nice to give a few of the guys an opportunity at the Tour de Suisse.  I've got freedom to go for results and would love to win a stage. Today was just confirmation of the prep that I have been doing for the Tour.”

Congratulations, Neilson! Rip it up next week in Switzerland.