Team Radioshack manager Johan Bruyneel believes that the next wave of American riders are strong enough to take over from the current household names when they retire. The Belgian currently features one of the biggest talents on the team roster, as Taylor Phinney is competing as a stagiaire until the end of the year, and is encouraged by what he sees with that rider and others.
Bruyneel hopes that people realise that there’s more than one strong young rider. “I don’t think it’s fair to put American cycling solely on Taylor’s shoulders,” he said, responding to questions on the Teamradioshack.us website. “American cycling is strong enough that when Lance [Armstrong], George [Hincapie], Levi [Leipheimer], Christian [Vande Velde], etc. decide to hang it up, there will be another group to carry it forward.
“Teejay Van Garderen, Brent Bookwalter, Ted King, and I’m probably even missing a few. Give those riders credit too. They seem to fly a bit under the radar, but I’m impressed with their performances. Add Taylor to the mix and I think you have a nice group to lead American cycling in the world’s biggest events for many more years to come.”
Phinney has had an exceptional career thus far, winning world titles on the track, taking two editions of the Under 23 Paris-Roubaix, and posting many other strong results. Earlier this year he won the Olympias Tour and took the prologue plus four stages; he also won stage 4 of the Tour of the Gila and stage 2b of the Triptyque de Monts et Châteaux.
Several weeks ago he began a stagiaire trial with Team RadioShack and has settled in strongly, winning the prologue and time trial of the recent Tour of Utah. That has led to a lot of excitement about his abilities, but Bruyneel hopes that he is given a chance to develop and doesn’t suffer the burden of expectation.
“People are certainly excited for Taylor’s arrival to the ProTour and I can understand why – not only is he an accomplished track rider and has had some nice results on the U23 team, but he’s also the son of American cycling legend Davis Phinney,” he said. “But I hope that Taylor is given the opportunity to grow and doesn’t get to the point that the public and media’s expectations weigh on him to the extent that it affects his performance. That happens very often in sports and I’ve seen it before on the team.”
He cautions too that people shouldn’t assume that his strength at 20 years of age means that he will take the biggest prize in the sport. Phinney is six feet four inches tall (1.93M) and his body type simply might not be suited to the high mountains. “A lot of fans think that Taylor will one day win the Tour, but he’s probably more suited for one day races and time trials, and maybe some sprints,” he said. “So right there, people have these expectations that aren’t even accurate to start out.”
Can Contador win seven Tours?
Inevitably, Bruyneel was asked about former protégée Alberto Contador, who raced for the director from 2007 until 2009, and won two Tours, the Giro and the Vuelta in that time. The two were expected to have a long partnership but that relationship was strained when Lance Armstrong returned from retirement and joined the Astana team.
Bruyneel opted to align himself more with Armstrong, the rider with whom he had won seven Tours, rather than the younger competitor. He then left the team last year, moving with Armstrong and the majority of the strong Astana riders to Team RadioShack.
Contador has already won three Tours by the age of 27, clocking up three by the time Armstrong took his first. He’s not yet halfway towards equalling the American’s Tour victory record, but his obvious stage race ability and hunger for success means that many are asking if he could one day match or exceed that record.
Bruyneel isn’t ruling it out, but stresses that there’s a long way to go and many factors. “Alberto certainly has the best shot,” he admitted. “He’ll be 28 in December and needs four to tie the record and five to beat it, which would only put him at 32 years old. So age wise, it’s certainly very possible. But it’s more than age or Alberto’s talent. He needs to continue to surround himself with a strong team that will make sacrifices for him. You also need to factor in the competition – Andy [Schleck] had a great Tour, was stronger than last year and is also a couple years younger than Alberto.”
Armstrong famously had no serious mechanical issues or crashes during his victorious run. Bruyneel said that luck too will pay a major part in determining how the Spaniard’s run will go.
“I think Alberto will be a dominating rider for many years to come, but luck – good and bad – plays a part for any rider. The best advice I can give to Alberto is to take one year at a time. Getting caught up in the 2012, 2013 or 2014 Tour de France won’t do him any good at this point.”