In a surprise of muffled sounding proportions, it appears that Taylor Phinney will not be whiling away his time with the U23 Trek-Livestrong team in 2011, but rather its big brother, Radio Shack. The rider, whose palmares reads like that of someone ten years his elder, appears more than ready to make the jump to the ProTour in 2011, if not sooner.
Cyclismag reports that Trek-Livestrong manager, Axel Merckx, has said that Phinney will likely spend some time with the Radio Shack team as a stagiaire before the end of this season.
Phinney is not moving up to the ProTour for the experience it seems. Expectations are being poured on his broad shoulders and talk of the a certain three week race in France is already being tossed about. Axel Merckx spoke candidly about his rider, noting the reality and the possibilities: "Some have already propelled him to the rank of 'Little Armstrong and future star of the Tour de France, yet no one knows his limits in the high mountains. That's something he has never really addressed. His size is a handicap (1.83m, 82kg), but he could lose weight like Wiggins in 2009."
The Tour de France is a long way off, no matter how amazing Phinney is now and will eventually become, but considering his rate of progression, one dare not write him off. It's hard to imagine a better year for Phinney than last year's campaign in his first year in the senior ranks, but he has already put it to shame. He doubled up as the World Individual Pursuit Champion then set about amassing a huge array of excellent performances including a stage win at the Tour of the Gila, four stages and the overall at the recently completed Olympia's Tour, a stage win and second overall at the Triptyque des Monts et Chateaux, and today, his second consecutive victory at the espoir edition of Paris-Roubaix.
Phinney does not turn 20 for another four weeks.