Stevie Williams 'in the battle every day' as Welshman targets return from knee surgery
The Welshman is rehabbing at SEG Performance in Amsterdam under performance coach Arno Philips, with NSN Cycling Team's medical staff working alongside him.
Stevie Williams has no confirmed return date after undergoing knee surgery, his NSN Cycling Team confirmed in an update this week. The 29-year-old Welshman has not raced in 2026 and is currently several weeks into a full-time rehab programme at SEG Performance in Amsterdam.
Williams last pinned on a number at Eschborn-Frankfurt on 1 May 2025, when he abandoned after a difficult Ardennes week that also saw him DNF at Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. The knee issue, which had been building through the spring, eventually required surgery, and the rider has not been seen in competition since. It is Williams' second knee surgery of his career as he underwent a procedure in 2019 to fix fabella syndrome.
His absence has meant missing the whole of his first season riding under the team's new NSN identity, which replaced Israel-Premier Tech ahead of 2026. It has also meant a second consecutive spring without Williams at Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the two Ardennes races where he had been expected to lead as defending Flèche champion in 2025.
"The SEG Performance team has been brilliant. I'm also grateful for all the support from NSN Cycling Team. I am confident that we're doing everything possible to get me back on the bike as soon as possible."
The SEG Performance facility is familiar ground. Williams rode for SEG Racing Academy in 2017 and 2018 before turning professional with Bahrain Merida. His current programme is overseen by performance coach Arno Philips, with days split between treatment, mobility work, strength sessions, cardio and a gradually increasing amount of time on the bike.
The team's medical staff are also involved, remaining in contact with the Amsterdam group throughout the process.
The loss has hit the team hard. Williams had tops results, mostly in 2024, in which he took La Flèche Wallonne, the overall at the Tour Down Under and the Tour of Britain, plus four WorldTour and ProSeries stages.
No return date has been set. If rehab continues at the current pace, the team says, Williams should return pain-free.
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