Robert Power

Robert Power (born 11 May 1995) is an Australian former road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2016 and 2021 for , and .

Career Amateur career As a child, Power was a rugby player; his brother Leon Power played professionally in Australia, France and New Zealand. At the age of 13, however, Power suffered a knee injury. The rehabilitation from the injury involved a lot of cycling on the velodrome at the Midland Cycling Club in Perth. Power joined the group rides and, a year later, rode in the national championships. He continued riding in the various age-group categories over the subsequent years.

Power joined the National Junior High Performance Program in 2013. During that season, he won two races (a stage of the Giro della Lunigiana and the Trofeo Buffoni one-day race) as well as recording several other high placings. He was then selected to ride in the junior road race at the Road World Championships in Florence. He attacked on the last lap of the race in an attempt to catch a leading group but was caught and finished in the main bunch in 19th place. Power's next race was the road race at the Oceania Road Cycling Championships; he came second in the elite race won by Luke Durbridge and won the under-23 classification. Following this result, he was signed to ride with the Jayco-AIS World Tour Academy and achieved a podium finish in his first race for the team. During the Tour d'Azerbaïdjan, Power was described by Ewan as "unbelievably talented". He finished in second place overall, 30 seconds behind López. Power's final race of the season was the under-23 road race at the Road World Championships; his teammate Caleb Ewan finished second, while Power finished in the main bunch in 35th place.

Professional career Power made his UCI World Tour debut at the 2015 Tour Down Under, riding for the UniSA–Australia team. He was the youngest rider in the race; he finished 41st overall and 10th in the youth classification. During the race, it was announced that he had been signed by the team for the 2016 season, alongside Jack Haig and Alex Edmondson. He was described by Matt White, the team's sporting director, as "one of the most exciting climbing talents we've seen in Australian cycling for a very, very long time". After a season of racing in junior races in Europe that included a stage victory and the overall win in the Giro della Valle d'Aosta, Power was selected for the Tour de l'Avenir, where he was considered to be one of the favourites for overall victory. He was forced to pull out, however, in the week before the race due to a knee injury.

Orica–GreenEDGE (2016–2018) In November 2015 he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone marrow edema that meant he only made his debut in August 2016. He made his return to competition at the Arnhem–Veenendaal Classic, before going on to race for 13 days before the end of the year, riding the Tour of Britain and making his Monument debut at Il Lombardia, where he helped deliver team-mate Esteban Chaves to the race win. In his sixth and final race of the season, the Japan Cup, he took his first professional podium, finishing third behind Davide Villella and team-mate Christopher Juul-Jensen.

In 2018, Power put in an active and aggressive performance at Strade Biache, where he finished sixth, before taking his first professional win in July at the Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia, finishing in a one-two ahead of team-mate Simon Yates.

Team Sunweb (2019–2020) In September 2018 announced that they had signed Power on a two-year deal from 2019. In May 2019, he was named in the startlist for the 2019 Giro d'Italia. In August 2019, he was named in the startlist for the 2019 Vuelta a España.

Team Qhubeka Assos (2021) In December 2020, Power signed a one-year contract with , for the 2021 season. Due to financial problems, the team folded at the end of the 2021 season and Power retired from professional cycling.

Major results

2013 1st Trofeo Buffoni Oceanian Junior Road Championships

5th Time trial 3rd Overall Giro della Lunigiana 1st Stage 3 3rd Overall Giro di Basilicata 8th Overall Grand Prix Rüebliland 10th Trofeo Emilio Paganessi 2014 Oceanian Under-23 Road Championships

8th Time trial 1st Gran Premio di Poggiana 1st GP Capodarco 2nd Road race, National Under-23 Road Championships 2nd Overall Tour de l'Avenir 2nd Gran Premio Palio del Recioto 3rd Trofeo Banca Popolare di Vicenza 7th Overall Tour d'Azerbaïdjan 7th Overall Czech Cycling Tour 8th Overall Course de la Paix U23 10th Gran Premio Industrie del Marmo 2015

1st Prologue 3rd Trofeo Città di San Vendemiano 4th Giro del Belvedere 6th Overall Herald Sun Tour

6th Overall Rhône-Alpes Isère Tour 2016 3rd Japan Cup 2017 4th Pro Ötztaler 5500 5th Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia 2018 1st Prueba Villafranca de Ordizia 1st Japan Cup 6th Strade Bianche

Grand Tour general classification results timeline