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Taylor Phinney

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Oldman

Jun 19, 2009
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TRDean said:
Some of the comments on this thread are funny..."give him a break...let him develop...too much pressure" HaHa!! I'm pretty sure Phinney puts more pressure on himself than any one of us...that is probably one of the reasons he is such a good rider (genetics aside). If you ask me, he has done quite well on both the track and the road in such a short career!! What more could he do? I mean really? Funny how people put up 10 past years of PR U23 winners and say "no guarantee of anything"...true..but how many of those riders previously dominated Olympia's Tour...and make no mistake, Phinney DOMINATED that tour! What is wrong with a little hype, no matter the rider? Sagan, Bobridge, Phinney, et al.? We are fans right? All you anti hype guys must think we live in a vaccuum...rooting and hyping the younger riders is one of the things that makes this sport so fun!!
I, for myself, think Phinney is a phenomenal talent who may be a "rider of his generation" type of guy...good battles with Sagan, Bobridge and others!! This is great for the sport. Good luck to them all...and I will gladly be on the hype train for every one of them...for I am a fan!
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I agree with much of the hype fans but, if I was his business agent; I'd be stepping back from the Stagaire discussion. He should be careful about associating any deeper with a program that could be seriously gutted by scandal and can afford to use his "younger" age as an excuse. That is a pragmatic attitude to be sure and one he'll likely ignore.
 
Notso Swift

Notso Swift

Mar 13, 2009
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theyoungest said:
If he were one month older, he would have been too old. But I think he looks rather young, TBH.
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Couple of years pro will lean out that face and throw the years on real quick;)
 
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richwagmn

Jun 18, 2009
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Merckx11 said:
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.
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Yea, exciting young rider. Wasn't his dad also a similar type of rider?

I could care less if he ever competes in the tour. For me, Paris-Roubaix is the best race of the year. I'll take it over the tour any day.
 
Notso Swift

Notso Swift

Mar 13, 2009
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Not sure if he was a cobbled classics guy but I remember him in Sprints at the tour, may have even won one, I think he was also strong on TT


Edit Wiki has him down for 2 TdF stages, and being a member of the US TTT bronze
 
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Oldman

Jun 19, 2009
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richwagmn said:
Yea, exciting young rider. Wasn't his dad also a similar type of rider?

I could care less if he ever competes in the tour. For me, Paris-Roubaix is the best race of the year. I'll take it over the tour any day.
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Both his Dad and uncle, Wayne.
 
pmessal

pmessal

Apr 28, 2009
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Watching the young US up and comers has always been the most interesting aspect in the pro-peloton for me. Phinney surely tops the list and Stetina, as already mentioned, is there as well. Here are a few more that I regularly keep an eye on:

Craig Lewis - just completed his 1st GT...I think he'll win Lombardia one day.
Teejay Vangarderen - a true American stage racer... Future Grand Tour winner?
Andrew Talansky - white jersey winner at Gila, just took over the on GC at Terragona
Alex Howes - it'll be interesting to see him in the pro-peloton ?next year?

Speaking of up & coming U.S. cycling talent...what ever happened to John Devine? Stud U23 rider, got a contract with Discovery then transferred to High Road, then he disappeared. Anybody know what happened to him?
 
DrC0721

DrC0721

Jul 11, 2010
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Clemson Cycling said:
Tejay van Garderen is America's next great GC rider.
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That's right. Taylor Phinney is too tall (6ft 4 in) and too heavy (180lbs) to be a GC contender. Granted that weight will come down when he exits the track scene but not enough to challenge any of the big names.

I hope he will be the first American Paris-Roubaix champion.
 
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this_is_edie

Apr 28, 2009
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DrC0721 said:
That's right. Taylor Phinney is too tall (6ft 4 in) and too heavy (180lbs) to be a GC contender. Granted that weight will come down when he exits the track scene but not enough to challenge any of the big names.

I hope he will be the first American Paris-Roubaix champion.
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Agreed. I am concerned however that Radioshack will push him to become at GT contender to fill the void left with Armstrong retiring. They will be looking for an American to use for marketing purposes, and he's already been touted in a lot of the media, including cyclingnews, as the 'second coming' (well almost)
 
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kurtinsc

Nov 17, 2009
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this_is_edie said:
Agreed. I am concerned however that Radioshack will push him to become at GT contender to fill the void left with Armstrong retiring. They will be looking for an American to use for marketing purposes, and he's already been touted in a lot of the media, including cyclingnews, as the 'second coming' (well almost)
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My gut is that by the time he starts developing into a productive pro... the Radioshack team (and management of that team that's in place) will probably not be in a position to influence him much.

The Shack needs someone NOW. Phinney is a potential draw in 2-4 years... longer if they attempt to make him a GC rider.

He's too far away to help RS in that area... hopefully they won't damage him by trying to move him down that road. I think he's going to ride the Omnium in the Olympics in 2012 though... so I doubt he'll let them slim him down for climbing yet, even if he hoped to go down that road eventually.
 
shouldawouldacoulda

shouldawouldacoulda

Aug 10, 2009
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this_is_edie said:
Agreed. I am concerned however that Radioshack will push him to become at GT contender to fill the void left with Armstrong retiring. They will be looking for an American to use for marketing purposes, and he's already been touted in a lot of the media, including cyclingnews, as the 'second coming' (well almost)
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Its really too early to say how he will develop as a GC rider. In the past we have seen bigger guys become GC riders ie: Merckx, Indurain. Granted Phinney is taller than both, and hasn't shown top level climbing capacity. But at 180lbs he is not heavy for his height.

I don't think RSH will try to turn him into a GC rider. Rather, if he stays with RSH - and that is a big IF. They will try to develop him as a sprinter/TT/Classic rider. The challenge there is that despite having what on paper should be a good management team and structure to develop a classic rider... they historically haven't been able too. Look at Hincapie as the classic example.

With his current capacity he could turn into a rider similar to Cancellera/Boonen mix. Again, at 20yrs old it is too early to say how his climbing will develop in say 6-7yrs.
 
Roland Rat

Roland Rat

Apr 28, 2010
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shouldawouldacoulda said:
Its really too early to say how he will develop as a GC rider. In the past we have seen bigger guys become GC riders ie: Merckx, Indurain. Granted Phinney is taller than both, and hasn't shown top level climbing capacity. But at 180lbs he is not heavy for his height.

I don't think RSH will try to turn him into a GC rider. Rather, if he stays with RSH - and that is a big IF. They will try to develop him as a sprinter/TT/Classic rider. The challenge there is that despite having what on paper should be a good management team and structure to develop a classic rider... they historically haven't been able too. Look at Hincapie as the classic example.

With his current capacity he could turn into a rider similar to Cancellera/Boonen mix. Again, at 20yrs old it is too early to say how his climbing will develop in say 6-7yrs.
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180lbs is fairly heavy. I'm 6'3" and my "racing weight" was 162lbs (although obv less muscle and without the extreme weight loss), I could easily have gone down another few pounds if I wanted to. Wiggins is 6'2" and his is about 157lbs. I'd say if Phinney was to be a great climber he'd have to be around Wiggins' weight.

That said, I hope he just follows a natural path and doesn't try to become a GC rider if he isn't one.
 
shouldawouldacoulda

shouldawouldacoulda

Aug 10, 2009
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Roland Rat said:
180lbs is fairly heavy. I'm 6'3" and my "racing weight" was 162lbs (although obv less muscle and without the extreme weight loss), I could easily have gone down another few pounds if I wanted to. Wiggins is 6'2" and his is about 157lbs. I'd say if Phinney was to be a great climber he'd have to be around Wiggins' weight.

That said, I hope he just follows a natural path and doesn't try to become a GC rider if he isn't one.
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Well Merckx was heavy 170lbs, Indurain was 178lbs, Ulrich was 170 and even Armstrong was about 165-170.

But I agree with you... he's no waife.

We could even go off on a tangent about Wiggins and say maybe he was on the razor edge with his weight... and fell off. It is hard to retain power when you drop weight and its a real gamble - it can go either way. Your health gets really brittle and you can get sick easy.

Anyhow, like I said, I don't disagree. My point is it is just too early to say with him. Right now he isn't a mountain goat for sure. But who knows in 6-7yrs. He does have a lean frame and if he made it a goal, it wouldn't be difficult for him to get down to 170lb.

And I don't think he'll do that now. He could maybe drop weight and keep his TT strength... but he would definitely loose some speed from his sprint and at this time he sees his near future in sprinting and TT, so he won't do that.

Remember too, a lot of the climbing we would judge him on right now is from his US racing... and that isn't just climbing but it is altitude climbing. 7-9000+ feet. In the tour they rarely go over 6,500ft. and maybe do 1 summit over 7000ft. It can be a big difference.
 
shouldawouldacoulda

shouldawouldacoulda

Aug 10, 2009
213
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TRDean said:
Where have I read this before????? Copy and paste much??
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Agreed!

Armstrong's cancer weight loss is a bit overblown. Sure he dropped mad weight when he was sick. But when he got healthy again his race weight was similar to pre-cancer.

Granted it got re-distributed a bit, he lost some upper body mass, and put more muscle on his legs. He probably reduced %fat. But he was still 170lbs or thereabouts.

---
Anyhow, back to Phinney.

He's young, tall, lean, heavy due to his height, may or may not drop weight and improve his climbing at some point in the magic future.

As much as there are more examples of small super light GC riders, there are also examples of some GC guys who were taller and carried a bit more mass than 70kg or less.
 
shouldawouldacoulda

shouldawouldacoulda

Aug 10, 2009
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Actually Menchov may be a good example of a current GC rider who is a bit bigger/heavier?

oops check that :) Rabo site lists him as 1.80 m and 65kg. That is light for his height.

Maybe the talk of heavier GC riders should move to the clinic :eek:

Phinney will just a TT/Sprinter :D
 
M

montagna lunga

Aug 4, 2009
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shouldawouldacoulda said:
back to Phinney.
He's young, tall, lean, heavy due to his height, may or may not drop weight and improve his climbing at some point in the magic future.
As much as there are more examples of small super light GC riders, there are also examples of some GC guys who were taller and carried a bit more mass than 70kg or less.
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Ullrich and Indurain are the moderns that come to my mind. Phinney's the kind of natural talent that comes along once a generation...with the right handlers and not too many bad breaks, he'll be able to do anything he sets his mind to!
 
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