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Taylor Phinney

Jul 7, 2009
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Is anyone paying attention to this guy? He just won the u-23
Paris Roubaix for the second year running. We are watching the birth of a true super star.
 
Apr 20, 2009
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He seems to be built for the Classics. Interesting to see if they try to develop him into a GT rider; Americans don't much understand the Classics, to put it mildly.
 
Phinney rules the under 23 circuit no doubt, but if you want to talk about a "birth of a superstar," then look no further than Peter Sagan. He's just 20 years old and already competing (and succeeding) in the pro ranks.
 
Mar 18, 2009
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First of all, it would be really nice if people would behave like adults here and not immediately made this thing devolve into another Lance/Doping/Transformation thread--haven't there been enough of them?

Second--if you read the interviews with him, and you look at his family heritage, it's clear that Taylor Phinney sees himself--and is clear about this--as a one ray race/classics racer. He isn't talking about GTs. It's a little sad to see people here already accusing him of doping in races he's never entered.

If he wins the Tour next year, then fine--look for the relationship between the smoke and the fire---but shouldn't there be at least some slight evidence of doping before people get their undies all twisted? Right now Taylor is an amazing younger one-day specialist--and, it seems, to me, believable as such.
 
Feb 4, 2010
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I'm watching Phinney. It will be interesting to see how his career develops. While it's true that most casual US fans and the non cycling press doesn't pay much attention to anything but Le Tour, if he shows he has what it takes to excel at the classics, in the very least he won't have too much trouble getting a position with a good classics team.
 
Apr 20, 2009
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9000ft said:
I'm watching Phinney. It will be interesting to see how his career develops. While it's true that most casual US fans and the non cycling press doesn't pay much attention to anything but Le Tour, if he shows he has what it takes to excel at the classics, in the very least he won't have too much trouble getting a position with a good classics team.

I agree that he wouldn't have much trouble getting a position with a good classics team if he continues to improve. But if he joins the "pro" RS squad next year, he'll probably be expected to ride a GT, no? As a US -based team, I suspect they'd push him towards GT's. It might be tough for an American sponsor to be wooed by good finishes at P-R, LBL, Fleche etc...

Or, on the other hand, maybe he could be the catalyst to create American interest in those....

Or perhaps he'll go elsewhere.
 
Mar 13, 2009
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I think there could be a bit of a long term rivalry between him and Bobridge (not suggesting any thing other than good nature competitive)
Future star for US Future Star for Aus, both tracked against each other, similar Junior career plans and early success.
It is interesting to me that Bobridge went ProTour with Garmin this year, no doubt because of the strong Aussie environment, especially with Matt White (there had been rumours of him going to Livstrong) see how that develops. I know they are trying to hold him back a bit, because he is sometimes a little too keen. Phinney has stayed U23 and chosen to dominate the class, with less competition. Need to look at them bother in 3-4 years to see about that.

One thing for sure (despite shameless, though justified, ramping by CN, as mentioned above) Phinney seems to bee the Real Deal.
 
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Im no Phinney fan ';)

Worth noting, it did take a sprint for him to win it, was not a particularly dominant win (although he won the sprint)

and as a slight reality check
1999 France Sébastien Joly
2000 Germany Eric Baumann
2001 Ukraine Yaroslav Popovych
2002 Russia Michail Timoschin
2003 Uzbekistan Sergey Lagutin
2004 Netherlands Koen de Kort
2005 Russia Dmitry Kozontchuk
2006 Netherlands Tom Veelers
2007 France Damien Gaudin
2008 Netherlands Coen Vermeltfoort
2009 United States Taylor Phinney
2010 United States Taylor Phinney

success at u-23 level does not guarantee success at a higher level, and as noted some of the better under 23 riders have gone to full pro-tour teams, Bobridge, Kennaugh, Sagan. So its pretty hard to judge if hes actually that good.

Hes a decent rider, not seen enough of him to say wether hes a future star. The next big thing? Dunno.. jury's still out. Bobridge on the other hand, seems class, both on and off the bike.
 
Feb 25, 2010
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La Vie Claire said:
Phinney rules the under 23 circuit no doubt, but if you want to talk about a "birth of a superstar," then look no further than Peter Sagan. He's just 20 years old and already competing (and succeeding) in the pro ranks.

and phinney is only 19 :D and he won olympia's tour + 3 stages in it :) he also sprinted top 10 in qatar a couple of times. Looks like we're getting a guy like tom boonen :)
 
Aug 22, 2009
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Phinney reminds me of Boonen/Cancellara and Sagan of Valverde/Vino. They're major talents and I look forward to seeing their careers progress. Both are still 20~? Amazing.

As a previous posted mentioned, would love to see Phinney not with the hog and bust out a 4"10 on the track.. that would be insane.
 
Mar 18, 2009
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TeamSkyFans said:
Im no Phinney fan ';)

Worth noting, it did take a sprint for him to win it, was not a particularly dominant win (although he won the sprint)

and as a slight reality check
1999 France Sébastien Joly
2000 Germany Eric Baumann
2001 Ukraine Yaroslav Popovych
2002 Russia Michail Timoschin
2003 Uzbekistan Sergey Lagutin
2004 Netherlands Koen de Kort
2005 Russia Dmitry Kozontchuk
2006 Netherlands Tom Veelers
2007 France Damien Gaudin
2008 Netherlands Coen Vermeltfoort
2009 United States Taylor Phinney
2010 United States Taylor Phinney

success at u-23 level does not guarantee success at a higher level, and as noted some of the better under 23 riders have gone to full pro-tour teams, Bobridge, Kennaugh, Sagan. So its pretty hard to judge if hes actually that good.

Hes a decent rider, not seen enough of him to say wether hes a future star. The next big thing? Dunno.. jury's still out. Bobridge on the other hand, seems class, both on and off the bike.

I won't deny this (bold) but the way you are saying it makes it out like a slap at Phinney...and I'm sure you meant it that way. What is not class about Phinney? Since the track worlds Bobridge has done nothing...

If you don't think Phinney is "that good" you need to check yourself at the doctor. Dominating Olympia's Tour....second PR U23 and he is still under 20?? His Tour of Qatar sprints were very impressive.

And by the way...Bobridge should still be doing U23 races...not the Giro!! He is being mishandled. I'm sure he will have a fantastic career however.
 
Mar 11, 2009
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I don't have a problem with Bobridge riding the first two weeks of the Giro at his age. The only way for young riders to get that experience of riding in a GT peloton day after day is to throw them in at the deep end. Young legs will recover more quickly from the strain of it anyway.

As for Phinney, he certainly looks like a promising talent. It's a shame that the individual pursuit won't be in the 2012 Olympic games, because I think we could have had an excellent cross-generational showdown between Phinney and Wiggo.

On the road he certainly seems to fit that Tom Boonen classics/sprinter mould, but he is young and could develop in any direction really. I think it's a real shame he'll be turning pro with Retirement Shack, though.
 
Jamsque said:
I don't have a problem with Bobridge riding the first two weeks of the Giro at his age. The only way for young riders to get that experience of riding in a GT peloton day after day is to throw them in at the deep end. Young legs will recover more quickly from the strain of it anyway.

As for Phinney, he certainly looks like a promising talent. It's a shame that the individual pursuit won't be in the 2012 Olympic games, because I think we could have had an excellent cross-generational showdown between Phinney and Wiggo.

On the road he certainly seems to fit that Tom Boonen classics/sprinter mould, but he is young and could develop in any direction really. I think it's a real shame he'll be turning pro with Retirement Shack, though.

So you have riden a GT at the age of 20 and are certain that "Young legs will recover more quickly from the strain of it anyway."

i think you are wrong and that Bobridge wont handle the pressure. He will be Australia's Tom Danielson! Of the young Aussies I fancy Travis Meyer who has GT potential which is different from being an early maturer like Bobridge!
 
May 15, 2009
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timmers said:
So you have riden a GT at the age of 20 and are certain that "Young legs will recover more quickly from the strain of it anyway."

i think you are wrong and that Bobridge wont handle the pressure. He will be Australia's Tom Danielson! Of the young Aussies I fancy Travis Meyer who has GT potential which is different from being an early maturer like Bobridge!

But Bobridge only did 12 stages in Giro, didnt he? The same with C Meyer last year. This year C Meyer finished Giro. Dont think Garmin did anything wrong on Bobridge.
 
Mar 18, 2009
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joy118118 said:
But Bobridge only did 12 stages in Giro, didnt he? The same with C Meyer last year. This year C Meyer finished Giro. Dont think Garmin did anything wrong on Bobridge.

Bobridge rode like crap!!
 
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TRDean said:
I won't deny this (bold) but the way you are saying it makes it out like a slap at Phinney...and I'm sure you meant it that way. What is not class about Phinney? Since the track worlds Bobridge has done nothing...

If you don't think Phinney is "that good" you need to check yourself at the doctor. Dominating Olympia's Tour....second PR U23 and he is still under 20?? His Tour of Qatar sprints were very impressive.

And by the way...Bobridge should still be doing U23 races...not the Giro!! He is being mishandled. I'm sure he will have a fantastic career however.

No i said its hard to judge if he is that good, and the fact that the likes of Sagan, Kennaugh and Bobridge arent riding at u23 makes that difficult. I also said i hadnt seen enough of Taylor to properly judge, but, based on history, winning paris roubaix espoirs does not translate automatically into a succesful pro career as the previous winners shows. I was very careful with how i worded it as I knew people would take issue.
 
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TRDean said:
Bobridge rode like crap!!

But Bobridge now has experience, that will serve him very well in years to come.. Same as Sky are doing with Kennaugh, putting him in the races, putting no pressure on him, letting him get used to the enviroment, the pace of races, the routine etc. Being a succesful pro is not all about the bike.