Taylor Carpenter-Phinney (born June 27, 1990) is an American retired professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2019 for the , and teams. Phinney specialized in

time trials In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

on the road as well as the

individual pursuit The individual pursuit is a track cycling event where two cyclists begin the race from a stationary position on opposite sides of the track. It is held at over for men and for women. The riders start at the same time and set off to complete the ...

on the track, winning the world title in the discipline in 2009 and 2010.

Early life and amateur career

Phinney was born on June 27, 1990 to former professional road cyclist and Olympic medal-winner

Davis Phinney Davis Phinney (born July 10, 1959) is a retired professional road bicycle racer from the United States. He won 328 races in the 1980s and 1990s, a record for an American, including two Tour de France stages. He has worked in media since retiring ...

and former Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist and speed skater

Connie Carpenter-Phinney Connie Carpenter-Phinney (born February 26, 1957) is an American retired racing cyclist and speed skater who won four medals in World Cycling Championship competitions (both road and track cycling) in the late 1970s and early 1980s. She also won ...

. In 2007 at the age of 16, Phinney began racing on Team Slipstream's junior squad. Slipstream team manager

Jonathan Vaughters Jonathan James Vaughters (born June 10, 1973) is an American former professional racing cyclist and current manager of UCI WorldTeam . Racing career Vaughters started competitive cycling in the 1980s, racing in the Red Zinger Mini Classics you ...

signed Phinney to the team before he had competed in a race, having heard word-of-mouth reports about Phinney's ability on group rides in Boulder. It was at this time that Phinney was introduced to track cycling. In August 2007, he won the World Junior Championships time trial title. Since then, Phinney has competed in National, World Cup and World Championship events for track cycling. Phinney finished seventh in the

at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Later that year, at the U.S. National Track Championships, he won gold medals in the elite one kilometer time trial, individual pursuit and team pursuit races.

Professional career

Trek–Livestrong (2009–2010)

On September 24, 2008,

Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong ('' né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005 after recovering fr ...

announced that Phinney had made the under-23 team, which was organized by the group that managed Armstrong's , . On March 26, 2009, Phinney won the individual pursuit at the 2009 UCI Track Cycling World Championships and, again, at the

2010 UCI Track Cycling World Championships The 2010 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were the World Championships for track cycling in 2010. They took place at the Ballerup Super Arena in Ballerup, Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_ty ...

on March 25, 2010. Phinney then switched his focus to the road, winning the

Paris–Roubaix Espoirs Paris–Roubaix Espoirs is a one-day road cycling race held annually in France. In 2005 the race was integrated into the UCI Europe Tour as a category 1.2U race. Held since 1967, it is the under-23 version of the Monument classic Paris–Roubaix ...

, the

Olympia's Tour The Olympia's Tour is a cycling stage race held in the Netherlands. History A.S.C. Olympia was founded in Amsterdam on 27 November 1898. It ran one-day races but wanted a race through all the Netherlands. The first Olympia's Tour was in 1909, w ...

overall, in addition to the first four stages and time trials in

Tour de l'Avenir Tour de l'Avenir ( en, Tour of the Future) is a French road bicycle racing stage race, which started in 1961 as a race similar to the Tour de France and over much of the same course but for amateurs and for semi-professionals known as independen ...

and

Tour of Utah Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

On July 29, 2010, it was announced that Phinney and teammates

Jesse Sergent Jesse Sergent (born 8 July 1988) is a retired New Zealand racing cyclist who rode professionally between 2011 and 2016 for , and . Career Born in Feilding, Sergent won a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, as part of the New ...

and Clinton Avery would ride in the Tour of Denmark for , riding as stagiaires.

BMC Racing (2011–2016)

Taylor Phinney, London 2012 Time Trial - Aug 2012

On September 22, 2010, the announced that Phinney would become part of BMC in 2011, joining a team that included

Cadel Evans Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist, who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along wi ...

George Hincapie George Anthony Hincapie (born June 29, 1973) is an American former racing cyclist, who competed professionally between 1994 and 2012. Hincapie was a key domestique of Lance Armstrong. Hincapie was also a domestique for Alberto Contador in 2007 a ...

and

Alessandro Ballan Alessandro Ballan (born 6 November 1979 in Castelfranco Veneto, Veneto) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer who most recently rode for UCI World Tour team . He is best known for winning the World Road Race Championships, in ...

. The highlight of Phinney's first season with BMC was a fourth-place finish in the

Eneco Tour The Benelux Tour (previously known as the Eneco Tour and the BinckBank Tour) is a road bicycle racing stage-race that is part of the UCI World Tour. The race was established in 2005 and was originally known as the Eneco Tour, named after the orig ...

. Phinney started the 2012 season by helping his team win the Giro del Trentino's team time trial, where he wore the leader's jersey for a day. His early target for the 2012 season was the opening stage of the Giro d'Italia, which he duly won to wear the leader's jersey, the ''maglia rosa'', becoming just the third American to do so following Andrew Hampsten in 1988 and

Christian Vande Velde Christian Vande Velde (born May 22, 1976) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist of Belgian descent, who rode professionally between 1998 and 2013. Vande Velde competed for the , , and squads. He has been a cycling analyst for ...

in 2008. Phinney then switched his focus to the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

, targeting the road race and

time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

, where he finished fourth in each event. He would go on to win the stage-seven individual time trial of the

USA Pro Cycling Challenge The USA Pro Cycling Challenge, also known as USA Pro Challenge, was an annual multi-day professional road bicycle racing stage race that first took place in Colorado in 2011. Originally announced on August 4, 2010 by Colorado Governor Bill Ritt ...

. Phinney participated in the 2012 UCI World Road Race Championships. He was part of the six-man BMC team that took silver in the team time trial. Phinney also finished second to Tony Martin in the individual event, missing out on becoming World Champion by five seconds. Amidst the turmoil of the

USADA The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti- doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...

affair, Phinney sent a tweet congratulating his teammate Steve Cummings for his stage win at the

Tour of Beijing The Tour of Beijing was an annual professional stage bicycle road race held in Beijing, China. History Its first edition took place in October 2011, as the penultimate event in the 2011 UCI World Tour. The tour was a partnership between the UCI a ...

, saying “He ummings like me, follows his own personal policy of no caffeine pills and no painkillers. Purest of the pure!” Phinney later explained his comment by stating that although legal, caffeine pills and mild

painkillers An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It i ...

were often used in the

peloton In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close ( drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reducti ...

during races, and that some riders even crushed them and mixed them in water bottles. He stated that he was entirely against that practice and doping in general. On the penultimate stage of the 2013 Tirreno–Adriatico, in heavy rain, Phinney found himself well in arrears of the leaders on a tough finishing circuit, which included a climb at

Sant'Elpidio a Mare Sant'Elpidio a Mare is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Fermo, in the Marche region of Italy. Geography Sant'Elpidio a Mare is located on a ridge of Marche Apennine, elevation above sea level, between the lower river valleys of the r ...

with gradients reaching 27 percent. Around 30 other riders in the group abandoned the race with over 100 kilometers (62 miles) to go, but Phinney rode on alone in the hope of making the time limit, so he could compete in the final day's time trial. Ultimately, Phinney missed the time limit by over ten minutes. In the early part of the 2014 season, Phinney won the inaugural

Dubai Tour The Dubai Tour is an annual professional road bicycle racing stage race held in Dubai, which began in 2014 as part of the UCI Asia Tour. History The race was classified as a 2.1. in 2014. The race is organized by the Dubai Sports Council in par ...

after winning the opening time-trial. In May, Phinney won a stage of the

Tour of California The Tour of California (officially sponsored as the Amgen Tour of California) was an annual professional road cycling stage race on the UCI World Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour that ran from 2006 to 2019. It was the only event on the ...

. With more than 23 kilometers to the finish, Phinney broke away from a reduced peloton and won by 12 seconds. Soon after, Phinney was victorious for a second time at the

United States National Time Trial Championships The United States National Time Trial Championships are held annually to decide the American champions in this cycling discipline, across various age and gender categories. Originally, in 1975, the time trial event distance was 25 miles. It lat ...

. Two days later, at the United States National Road Race Championships, Phinney suffered a career-threatening crash after sliding into a guard-rail. He was attempting to avoid a motorcycle on the descent of

Lookout Mountain Lookout Mountain is a mountain ridge located at the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Georgia, the northeast corner of Alabama, and along the southeastern Tennessee state line in Chattanooga. Lookout Mountain was the scene of the 18th-cen ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. His injuries—a compound fracture to his

tibia The tibia (; ), also known as the shinbone or shankbone, is the larger, stronger, and anterior (frontal) of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates (the other being the fibula, behind and to the outside of the tibia); it connects ...

and severed

patellar tendon The patellar tendon is the distal portion of the common tendon of the quadriceps femoris, which is continued from the patella to the tibial tuberosity. It is also sometimes called the patellar ligament as it forms a bone to bone connection when ...

—required surgery. Phinney never wore his national jersey as he remained out of action for a year, having initially been given a six-to-eight-week recovery period. At the end of 2015, Phinney participated in "Thereabouts 2," with Angus Morton, Lachlan Morton and Cameron Wurf. "Thereabouts 2" was an adventure-related cycling trip from Boulder, Colorado to

Moab, Utah Moab () is the largest city and county seat of Grand County in eastern Utah in the western United States, known for its dramatic scenery. The population was 5,366 at the 2020 census. Moab attracts many tourists annually, mostly visitors to ...

, while attempting to realize what makes cycling so special: adventure, friendship and a lack of structure. Phinney spent the early part of the 2016 season recovering from his injuries, making his first race appearance of the year at the

Tour du Haut Var The Tour du Haut Var ( en, Tour of the Haut Var) is an early-season two-day road bicycle race in the Var department region in the south of France. Until 2008 it was run as a one-day race, part of the UCI Europe Tour. In 2009, the race transformed ...

in February and subsequently racing in the spring classics before returning from Europe to his native Colorado. In May 2016 Phinney took his third national time trial title in

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in ...

, beating runner-up Tom Zirbel by over a minute: Phinney expressed satisfaction with the result and his performance, hoping that it would help him secure selection for the 2016 Summer Olympics. He competed at the Olympics, but despite entering the road time trial with hopes of a medal, he finished 22nd, over five minutes behind winner

Fabian Cancellara Fabian Cancellara (born 18 March 1981), nicknamed "Spartacus", is a Swiss cycling executive, businessman and former professional road racing cyclist who last rode for UCI ProTeam . He was born in Wohlen bei Bern, Switzerland. Cancellara began ...

Cannondale–Drapac Pro Cycling Team (2017–2019)

In September 2016 Phinney confirmed that he had agreed an initial two-year deal with from the 2017 season, with a focus on competing in the classics and aiming to race in the

2017 Tour de France The 2017 Tour de France was the 104th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The 21- stage race took place across , commencing with an individual time trial in Düsseldorf, Germany on 1 July, and concluding with the Champ ...

. In June 2017, he was named in the start list for the 2017 Tour de France, marking his debut in the race. In an interview ahead of the Tour Phinney stated that he was still undergoing therapy to deal with the effects of his injuries, and said that the power output from his left side was almost 25 percent down on that from his right side when making an explosive effort. Phinney was leading the mountains classification and wearing the polka dot jersey competition on stage 2.

Retirement

In October 2019 Phinney announced that he would retire from professional racing at the end of the 2019 season. He cited the ongoing effects of an injury he suffered in 2014 as a reason for his retirement.

Career achievements

Major results

;2007 : 1st Jersey rainbow chrono

Time trial In many racing sports, an athlete (or occasionally a team of athletes) will compete in a time trial against the clock to secure the fastest time. The format of a time trial can vary, but usually follow a format where each athlete or team sets off at ...

, UCI Junior Road World Championships : 1st MaillotUSA

Individual pursuit, National Track Championships : Tour de l'Abitibi ::1st Stages 1 ( ITT) & 2 ;2008 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Individual pursuit, UCI Junior Track World Championships : National Junior Track Championships ::1st MaillotUSA

Individual pursuit ::1st MaillotUSA

Track time trial ::1st MaillotUSA

Team pursuit ;2009 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Individual pursuit,

UCI Track World Championships The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are the set of world championship events for the various disciplines and distances in track cycling. They are regulated by the Union Cycliste Internationale. Before 1900, they were administered by the UCI ...

: National Track Championships ::1st MaillotUSA

Individual pursuit ::1st MaillotUSA

Points race ::1st MaillotUSA

Team pursuit : 1st

: 1st Stage 1

Flèche du Sud The Flèche du Sud, is a road bicycle race held annually in Luxembourg. It is currently organised as a 2.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport dis ...

;2010 : 1st Jersey rainbow

Individual pursuit,

: 1st

, UCI Road World Under–23 Championships : 1st MaillotUSA

, National Road Championships : 1st Jersey white

Overall

::1st Prologue, Stages 1, 2 & 3 :

::1st Prologue & Stage 3 ( ITT) : 1st

: 1st Stage 2b

Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux is a Belgian cycling road race. It was first held in 1996. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 2.2 event on the UCI Europe Tour The UCI Continental Circuits are a series of road bicycle racing compe ...

: 1st Stage 4

Tour of the Gila The Tour of the Gila is a cycling stage race for both men and women located in New Mexico, United States. It is sponsored by the component maker SRAM. The "Gila" began in 1987. Beginning in 2012, the men's Gila has been added to the UCI Americ ...

: 1st Prologue

;2011 : 4th Overall

::1st Prologue ;2012 : Giro d'Italia ::1st Stage 1 ( ITT) ::Held Jersey pink

after Stages 1–3 : 1st Stage 7 ( ITT)

: 1st Stage 1 ( TTT) Giro del Trentino :

UCI Road World Championships The UCI Road World Championships are the annual world championships for bicycle road racing organized by the (UCI). The UCI Road World Championships consist of events for road race and individual time trial, and a mixed team relay. Events ...

::2nd

Team time trial ::2nd Silver medal blank

: 3rd

Chrono des Nations Chrono des Nations – Les Herbiers Vendée is a single-day individual time trial road bicycle race held annually in October in Les Herbiers, Vendée, France. Since 2005, the race is organized as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. It was orig ...

::4th Road race ::4th

;2013 : 1st Stage 4

Tour de Pologne The Tour de Pologne ( Polish: ''Wyścig Dookoła Polski'', English: ''Tour of Poland'', official abbreviation TdP,) is an annual, professional men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in Poland. It consists of seven or eight stages ...

: 3rd Overall

Tour of Qatar The Tour of Qatar was an annual professional cycling stage race held in Qatar. First organized in 2002, the event was part of the UCI Asia Tour until 2016. The 2017 edition was to have seen the event upgraded to the UCI World Tour for the firs ...

::1st

Young rider classification ::1st Stage 2 ( TTT) : 3rd

Giro di Toscana The Giro di Toscana is a road bicycle race held annually in Tuscany, Italy. From 2005 to 2014, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour. The race was not held in 2015. On 4 April 2016 it was announced that the race will ...

: 5th

: 7th Milan–San Remo ;2014 : 1st MaillotUSA

, National Road Championships : 1st Jersey blue

Overall

::1st

Young rider classification ::1st Stage 1 ( ITT) : 1st Stage 5

: 7th

Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, previously Omloop Het Volk, is a one-day road cycling race in Belgium, held annually in late February. It is the opening event of the Belgian cycling season, as well as the first race of the year in Northwestern Europe, and ...

;2015 : 1st Gold medal blank

Team time trial,

: 1st Stage 1

;2016 : 1st MaillotUSA

, National Road Championships : 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

Tirreno–Adriatico Tirreno–Adriatico, nicknamed the "Race of the Two Seas", is an elite road cycling stage race in Italy, run between the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic coasts. Traditionally held in the early part of the season, it is considered to be an important prep ...

: 1st Stage 5 ( TTT)

: 2nd

Team time trial,

;2017 :

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

::Held

after Stage 2 ;2018 : 8th

Paris–Roubaix Paris–Roubaix is a one-day professional bicycle road race in northern France, starting north of Paris and finishing in Roubaix, at the border with Belgium. It is one of cycling's oldest races, and is one of the ' Monuments' or classics of th ...

;2019 : 1st Stage 1 ( TTT)

Tour Colombia The Tour Colombia, called earlier Colombia Oro y Paz is a stage professional cycling race held annually in Colombia since 2018. It is part of UCI America Tour in category 2.1. Winners See also * Vuelta a Colombia The Vuelta a Colombia ...

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Phinney, Taylor 1990 births Living people American male cyclists Cyclists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic cyclists of the United States Sportspeople from Boulder, Colorado UCI Track Cycling World Champions (men) American Giro d'Italia stage winners American track cyclists Cyclists from Colorado