American Nielson Powles, who has spent the past two years with Jumbo Visma in the Netherlands, has signed a contract with EF Education First for the 2020 season. Powless is currently riding to defend his teammate Primoz Roglic's race lead at the Vuelta a España.

The 23-year-old Paules comes to Jumbo-Visma from Hagens Berman Axiom's development team, where he has spent two seasons in NeoPro learning on the job.

Like current Jumbo-Visma teammate Sepp Kuss, Powles came to road racing with a mountain bike background and quickly found success on the US national circuit, finishing 9th overall at the 2016 Amgen Tour of California and won a stage at the Tour de L'Avenir as a member of the U.S. national team.

"Nielson is an amazing athlete, one of a kind, with a diverse athletic background that includes triathlon and mountain biking," said EF Education First Pro Cycling CEO Jonathan Vaughters EF Education First Pro Cycling CEO Jonathan Vaughters said, "We often see athletes from a wide range of backgrounds become really good athletes when they start to focus on one element, as Nielson has done recently on the road."

Unlike Kuss, who signed with Jumbo-Visma at the same time as Powles and won a Vuelta stage after re-signing with the team for two more years, Powles has not had any high-profile results but has been a solid worker for the team leader, including his first Grand Tour at the Vuelta this month He is growing into a solid worker for the team leader, including his first Grand Tour at the Vuelta this month.

"My most memorable moments were when I supported my teammates. I rode for Primoš [Roglic] in the Vuelta and for Steven [Kruijswijk] in the Dauphiné.

"It was huge for my development to be able to learn from guys with so much experience and knowledge at the World Tour level. With the engine to do that, you can achieve great results.

"I'm still developing the engine, and until that happens, there are a lot of little things I can focus on, like when to use energy, when to save energy, where and when to be in the race," Powles said.

Vaughters indicated that he is ready to take a long-term approach to Powles' development and said he sees him as part of the team's future stage race plans.

"We see him as a rider with a big upside from time trials to short stage races and eventually longer stage races," Vaughters said.

"His climbing has improved over the years. He can already be a leader in a week-long stage race dedicated to time trials. I think Nielson, along with Dani Martinez and Sergio Iguita, represents the next phase of our stage race team.

Powles also shares his new boss's enthusiasm about the deal and the chance to return to the American team.

"When I joined the World Tour, I had to make a lot of changes in my life all at once, but I realized that being on the American team would allow me to feel closer to home, even though I was away from home for so long.

"I know that everyone on the team is having a really great time. They really enjoy what they are doing. You can see it when the team races. You can see it around the dinner table. And you can see it in the way the riders on the team live their lives."

He hopes that this change will put him on the top step of the podium in the near and long term racing.

"I want to win bike races. I haven't really talked much about my race schedule yet, so I haven't really thought about which races, but any race is fine." But I want to win any bike race. If it's not my turn, I want to help the team win.

"When I eventually start a race, I want to be the favorite to win. I don't know when that will be, but that's my goal." In the future, I want to be one of the top overall class riders in the world. I believe that if I focus on improving the little things every day, I will get there.