Nielson Powles (EF Education-Nippon) will compete in the Big Sugar, a 107-mile gravel race in Bentonville, Arkansas. The Big Sugar is the first event produced by Lifetime, the company behind the Unbound Gravel and Leadville Race Series.

This season, Powless won the Clasica de San Sebastian and was part of the breakaway group at the World Championships, finishing fifth, the best finish by an American rider since 1999.

Saturday will see the riders traverse the Arkansas and Missouri countryside, crossing rocks and creeks and riding through 9,000 feet of elevation gain in the Ozark Mountains. It's new frontier for Powles, and a return to his early days on the bike, but it's still a race.

"I definitely want to win. I hate to lose at anything I do," Powles told Cycling News.

"I've never raced gravel, but I grew up racing XTERRA off-road triathlons and XC World Cup races before switching to road. The last race I raced off-road was the Junior XC World Championships in Hafiel, Norway, where I finished 7th; that was in 2014, so it's been a long time since then. Hopefully he still remembers how to handle a bike on dirt.

"What made Big Sugar so appealing to me was the timing. All the races in Europe are done, so it's perfect timing for me. Also, I've heard a lot about Bentonville and was itching to check out the town and the off-road terrain."

"I've always wanted to go to Bentonville," he said.

In the men's open category, the 25-year-old American faces significant competition in the inaugural Big Sugar with gravel gurus Peter Stetina, Colin Strickland, and Ben King. Arkansas doesn't have the title of defending champion, but the field is packed with experienced riders.

"I'm really excited to be racing with riders who have already been involved in gravel for a while. It's nice to be able to race against strong and experienced riders. I will try to follow their lead during the race. As long as I can keep up," said Paules. [But to be honest, I'm being pretty naive. At the end of the race, everyone just goes up in smoke and tries to race with what tanks they have left. So I'm looking forward to going. It will be an honest race."

In his second season with EF Education Nippo, Powles decided to take advantage of the team's "Alternative Calendar" program. Teammates Alex Howes and Lachlan Morton have been active in non-road competitions and adventures, and Morton is currently participating in the Cape Epic with Kenneth Kalaya, who finished third in the Migration Gravel Race.

"The freedom at EF is really great; the freedom at EF is really nice. We all get to spend a lot of time at home, which keeps us in a good frame of mind throughout the season. That's one of the reasons I'm racing Bug Sugar, but the main reason is because I miss off-road racing. I spent a lot of my childhood off-roading and racing with my family. I can't wait to get back to those roots."

"I think there are two sides to why I love cycling: the first is that I love to race, and the second is that I love to race. I think it's very unique to be able to balance both of those things with our team." To be able to compete in the Tour de France, to be at the pinnacle of professional road cycling, to be the most methodical, thoughtful, peak form athlete.

In preparing for Big Sugar, Powles sought advice from Morton and his sister Shayna Powles, who finished fifth overall in the women's 2021 Unbound Gravel 200. He needed tips on tires, nutrition, and how to manage his efforts on such a course.

"I was actually talking to my sister today about gravel. I had no idea what I needed or what kind of equipment people usually pack for an event like this. My sister gave me a lot of good advice about race trends and how to prepare for this event," Powles told Cycling News.

His equipment of choice was a Cannondale Super Six EVO SE with Vittoria Tirreno dry tires and Di2 shifting.

"I've only done a few runs since Lombardia, but I was blown away by the confidence I had on the singletrack with this setup.

The way things went at Lombardia will be important for Paules. He has been resting at home in California since this race and will be on the dirt for a week. The day after Big Sugar he said he was going to Rapha's Club Ride at Bentonville, but now he plans to see how he does on Saturday.

"Early in the race I'm going to focus on just getting into a rhythm. I'm going to spend the early part of the race just trying to find my rhythm. If there's a hard start, I'll adjust to that. But overall, you never know what's going to happen."