Taylor Phinney - just how good can he be?

[Daniel Benson]

The family pedigree, the back up team and the natural talent suggest he could and it's still a big could, be huge. Certainly a rising star but what do you think? What would history suggest?

 

[pmsc111]

Can't get over the way he rides the pursuit-gets faster every successive kilomtre, finishing with his fastest! Have never seen that before.

 

[BrandonT]

World Champ at his age is pretty impressive. I hope to see an Olympic medal around his neck in London 2012.

 

[nightfend]

Given a few years, Boardman's record might finally be broken. If you look at Phinney's qualifying time of 4:15, that would have earned him Gold at the Olympics. He's already improved 10 seconds in less than a year.

 

[bikepure]

The genetics are there but xx and xy alone don't a champion make.
The impressive teenager is reving at 125 plus revs and is thus amazingly efficient. Add a few inches to that gear as he get older and stronger and world records will tumble.

 

[pmsc111]

How many events do you think he'll win within the omnium?

 

[LC - Cyclingnews]

Yeah, Phinney's definitely the kid to beat... Don't know if his chances will suffer as a result of not having a decent team pursuit squad to hone his speed and smoothness, although by the look of it he doesn't need that.

Like one of the other guys on this thread said, bump him up some gears as he gets older and it may be scary what he'll be able to do... Not sure what they had him riding in Poland, but at 27 he may well be the Pursuitmeister (got a trademark on that expression).

Bobridge is a good rider, although that X factor thing may not be as 'Exxy' as his American rival... Hopefully we'll have another Wiggins v McGee sorta thing come London.

 

[chessracer]

More than a trackie

Taylor has the class to be a world-beater not just on the track. I expect to him atop classics / tour podiums in the next 5 years. Having witnessed his talents first hand, he has a that rare combo of a huge sprint plus endurance / pursuiter speed. Sky's the limit with this kid. I'm more a racer than a fan, but of all the talent I've raced with (including Lance), I'm starting to get a bit starry-eyed thinking about T's potential.

- A boulder local

 

[John Doe]

Taylor has the class to be a world-beater not just on the track. I expect to him atop classics / tour podiums in the next 5 years. Having witnessed his talents first hand, he has a that rare combo of a huge sprint plus endurance / pursuiter speed. Sky's the limit with this kid. I'm more a racer than a fan, but of all the talent I've raced with (including Lance), I'm starting to get a bit starry-eyed thinking about T's potential.

- A boulder local

Maybe, so far on the road he is less then impressive. He's a solid tt rider but not so good in the pack. I was in Mex a few weeks ago and expected more. He hasn't had much success in the mass start events on the track either. He is that type of rider on the road that is always on the outside or off the front. That works great in a junior race or the local yahoo race but not so good with the big dogs.

I would bet that he takes some time away from the track for a couple of years to concentrate on the road where he needs some work, I know he has posted some good local results in CO but a II in CO is a III in California. He is a great talent forsure in the IP and TT but time will tell on the road. The good thing is he is young, strong, and has good genes.

 

[chessracer]

CA vs. CO

John Doe, I following your logic until you made it pretty clear you have a bias against Colorado riders with your unnecessary "cat 3" comment. I'm sure Taylor has some work to do as far as RR's are concerned, but I doubt that will be a major obstacle to his success.

 

[John Doe]

John Doe, I following your logic until you made it pretty clear you have a bias against Colorado riders with your unnecessary "cat 3" comment. I'm sure Taylor has some work to do as far as RR's are concerned, but I doubt that will be a major obstacle to his success.

Sorry bro that was a joke/stab...

 

[crazykarl]

I suspect that Taylor's genetics will take him as far as his motivation will go.

His performances in the mass start events in the Omnium reflect the relative inexperience in international level mass start racing compared to many of the competitors. Having rainbow stripes on his jersey will open a lot of doors into racing opportunities to gain experience at the world-class level. It will be very interesting to see what he accomplishes in the next four years.

...but a II in CO is a III in California.

John Doe, how did you conclude this? I've lived, ridden, and raced in LA, the SF bay area, Boulder, and Colorado Springs. My impression on the relative strengths of riders in these areas is somewhat different than what you write.

Your assertion led me to pull up the 2008 Tour of the Gila website (one of the western events that has a separate category for 2's and attracts riders from both CA and CO) and do a little bit of analysis on the TT stage results. I calculated a handful of average times to see how the CA cat 2's compare to the CO cat 2's. All of the times listed below are averages:

CA SM2 riders:
Top 3 - 40:27
4th-6th - 42:01
Top-half - 40:49
Middle-half - 41:44
All - 41:50

CO SM2 riders:
Top 3 - 39:12
4th-6th - 39:42
Top-half - 39:57
Middle-half - 40:51
All - 41:39

What I find most interesting is that the middle half of CO 2's were, on average, only 2 seconds slower than the top half of CA 2's. At any rate, the CO 2's beat the CA 2's in each of these criteria. So, then I ran the same calculations for the CO 3's.

CO SM3 riders:
Top 3 - 39:55
4th-6th - 40:57
Top half - 42:04
Middle half - 44:01
All - 44:25

The conclusion that I am led to is that CO 2's are, on average, faster than CA 2's, and that the very top CO 3's are, on average, faster than the fastest CA 2's while the average CA 2's are faster than the average CO 3's.

 

[crazykarl]

Sorry bro that was a joke/stab...

Oops, didn't see your latest reply. The numbers I posted are all true, though.

 

[CoachFergie]

After winning espoirs Paris Roubaix one would expect that Taylor is making inroads into his weakness on the road

 

[stevepedo]

Yeah, Phinney's definitely the kid to beat... Don't know if his chances will suffer as a result of not having a decent team pursuit squad to hone his speed and smoothness, although by the look of it he doesn't need that.

Like one of the other guys on this thread said, bump him up some gears as he gets older and it may be scary what he'll be able to do... Not sure what they had him riding in Poland, but at 27 he may well be the Pursuitmeister (got a trademark on that expression).

Bobridge is a good rider, although that X factor thing may not be as 'Exxy' as his American rival... Hopefully we'll have another Wiggins v McGee sorta thing come London.

It may take a few years to develop but I think a 17 yo from my home town in Brisbane may be a genuine rival for Phinney, as after all he broke his WR. Just what we want a high quality US vs AUS shootout -bring it on!!

from CA webiste...

"17 year old Brisbane cyclist, Michael Hepburn, has rewritten the record books with a World Record time to qualify fastest in the 3 kilometre U19 men's individual pursuit at Adelaide's Superdrome on day one of the Australian Track Cycling Championships.

Hepburn stopped the clock in 3min16.385sec to clip two tenths of a second off the previous record of 3min16.589sec set by American Taylor Phinney last June in Los Angeles to claim not only the World Record mantle but the Australian, Australian All Comers and Australian Championship records""

 

[gogo419]

I realise that taylor is a 'freak' on the bike however you must look at Australian juniour Michael Hepburn who recently beat Phinney's IP record in the U/19 category at the Australian National Championships. Yes Phinney has produced the goods and does have the genes but clearly that isnt everything if his record is being beaten. Lets see what the future brings for both of them.

 

[Oldman]

taylor vs hepburn

The true test will be the maturity and support system for both riders. Everyone knows the world beating junior phenom that couldn't separate the fun from the business and quit the sport altogether. A local rider that had the discipline early on and followed through: Tyler Farrar. He had focus at 15 years of age and a family that reinforced real values. He also had the good fortune to end up on team and in an era where he wasn't expected to do every race and avoided the temptation to gas up. He also spent time in the US track program, but that seemed mostly due to a limited US budget. He would've done fine without them. Hopefully both of these kids will be free to be cyclists and kids.

 

[Sheltowee]

Maybe, so far on the road he is less then impressive. He's a solid tt rider but not so good in the pack. I was in Mex a few weeks ago and expected more. He hasn't had much success in the mass start events on the track either. He is that type of rider on the road that is always on the outside or off the front. That works great in a junior race or the local yahoo race but not so good with the big dogs.

I would bet that he takes some time away from the track for a couple of years to concentrate on the road where he needs some work, I know he has posted some good local results in CO but a II in CO is a III in California. He is a great talent forsure in the IP and TT but time will tell on the road. The good thing is he is young, strong, and has good genes.

Seems as if he posted pretty good in France lately, though Seems to have been at a place called Roubaix.

 

[CoachFergie]

Also as an 1st year U19 he won the Tour de lAbitibi and was Junior World Road Time Trial Champion. From his Facebook and Twitter comments I think he is keeping it real!

 

[runninboy]

Maybe, so far on the road he is less then impressive. He's a solid tt rider but not so good in the pack. I was in Mex a few weeks ago and expected more. He hasn't had much success in the mass start events on the track either. He is that type of rider on the road that is always on the outside or off the front. That works great in a junior race or the local yahoo race but not so good with the big dogs.

I would bet that he takes some time away from the track for a couple of years to concentrate on the road where he needs some work, I know he has posted some good local results in CO but a II in CO is a III in California. He is a great talent forsure in the IP and TT but time will tell on the road. The good thing is he is young, strong, and has good genes.

Good to know that a California 3 can win Paris/Roubaix
I've been a California 3 for awhile, do you think Lance will let me ride on TeamRadioshack for Roubaix next year? I hope so, that cobblestone trophy would look great in my den