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Taylor Phinney career profile
Taylor Phinney is the son of former US professional rider Davis Phinney and Olympic champion cyclist and speed skater Connie Carpenter.
With such great genes and surrounded by cycling at an early age, it was no surprise that the young Phinney found that he excelled on two wheels. The family moved to Italy for three years to run a cycle tour business when he was a teenager, and Phinney picked up Italian and soaked up the continental way of life.
He first made his mark on the international cycling scene when he won the junior world time trial title in 2007. The following year, he won the junior world title in the individual pursuit on the track and took a win in the pursuit at the Track World Cup in Los Angeles. He performed well at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, coming seventh in the individual pursuit.
Just one year later, in 2009, he progressed to taking the senior individual pursuit world title and the under-23 version of Paris-Roubaix. He switched road teams from Slipstream/Chipotle to Trek-Livestrong for 2009. All the while, his results were building on the track, taking numerous US national track titles at senior level.
The decision as to whether Phinney should continue with his successful track career or pursue wholeheartedly a more lucrative future on the road was largely made for him by the Union Cycliste Internationale, when it axed Phinney's favoured individual pursuit event from the 2012 Olympic Games.
Phinney's final year with the Trek-Livestrong squad in 2010 was the one that got many international team managers fighting for his signature. World titles on the track and road, four stage wins and the overall at the Olympia's Tour, and wins in the Tour of Utah, Tour de l'Avenir and Tour of the Gila, plus a successful defence of his under-23 Paris-Roubaix title set him up as red-hot property. BMC was the team that got its man.
However, the leap from promising junior and under-23 rider to full-blown elite professional never comes easy. Phinney's first season with BMC in 2011 was relatively quiet, with just one win in the Eneco Tour prologue. A fifth in the stage 10 individual time trial of the 2011 Vuelta a Espana was a sign that Phinney was building his strength in the Grand Tours.
Things changed in 2012. Helping BMC to win the team time trial in the Giro del Trentino, Phinney carried over his form to the Giro d'Italia where he blitzed the opposition to win the opening time trial stage and put himself into the coveted pink leader's jersey.
Phinney's easy-going nature and the fact that he can speak Italian and English won over the Giro's fans. A nasty crash on stage three of the race saw Phinney cross the line in an ambulance having injured his ankle, but he hobbled onto the podium to collect his leader's jersey and wave to the crowds. At the age of 21, his star status was confirmed.
2013 saw Phinney continue to flourish as a time trial specialist, but the American also picked up his first road race win on stage four of the Tour de Pologne.
Taylor Phinney results (wins)
2014
Dubai Tour; stage one ITT
Dubai Tour; overall classification
Tour of California; stage five
US National Champion; time trial
2013
Tour de Pologne; stage four
2012
Giro d'Italia; stage one ITT
2011
Eneco Tour; prologue
2010
World champion; individual pursuit
World champion; under-23 time trial
US National Champion; time trial
Under-23 Paris-Roubaix
Olympia's Tour; overall
Olympia's Tour; prologue
Olympia's Tour; stage one
Olympia's Tour; stage two
Olympia's Tour; stage three
Tour of the Gila; stage four
Tour of Utah; prologue
Tour of Utah; stage three ITT
Tour de l'Avenir; prologue
Le Triptyque de Monts et Châteaux; stage 2b
2009
World champion; individual pursuit
Under-23 Paris-Roubaix
Fleche du Sud; prologue
National champion; points race
National champion; individual pursuit
National champion; team pursuit
2008
Junior world champion; individual pursuit
Track World Cup, Los Angeles; individual pursuit
National champion; individual pursuit
National champion; kilo
National champion; team pursuit
2007
Junior world champion; time trial
National champion; individual pursuit
Taylor Phinney photos
Related links
Cycling Weekly's Rider Profiles: Index
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Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
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