First year American pro ambitious about career, rules out Tour de France contention
Fresh from his prologue win and fine fourth place overall in the Eneco Tour, Taylor Phinney has laid out some big goals for the final part of his first pro season.
The 21 year old said that he didn’t train properly early on this year, but knuckled down since May and put in the hard work which secured that first professional victory. With that under his belt, he is chasing a medal at the world championships in Copenhagen.
“I really wanted to win this prologue, I have been targeting it since May,” he told NOS in a video interview, referring to his seven-second beating of Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky Procycling). “From now I am going to the Vuelta and I want to win the time trial there, which is on day ten, and see what I can do in the sprints, mix it up. Maybe be able to finish my first Grand Tour in my first year as a pro, and then go to the worlds and try to get a medal…that is my other goal.”
Phinney had a sparkling amateur career and topped it off with victory in the Under 23 time trial at the world championships in Geelong last September. Most riders take a couple of years to settle in to the pro ranks, but he doesn’t want to lose time and is ambitious from the off. He’ll ride the Vuelta as preparation for Copenhagen, and believes he could perform strongly there.
“I think it is a good course for me. I think it is relatively flat, there is a lot of turns. My speciality is shorter time trials, although I have won some longer time trials in the past. I would like to maybe get a top ten, top five, podium if it was a perfect day.
“I feel like where I am now is kind of…I don’t want to say that I am still at a low level, I am at a high level of fitness, but I think I have a lot of room to grow from here. The worlds in Copenhagen are the main objective for me.”
Phinney admits that he didn’t work hard enough at the start of the year, saying that he got sidetracked by women and the large paycheck he is receiving in his first of three seasons with the BMC Racing Team. He said he fell short of his early season goals as a result, and got an awakening which should stand to him in the future.
His Eneco Tour performance was a very solid one, though, showing that his training is now paying off. He was chasing a place on the final podium yesterday and positioned himself to try to win the final stage and snag the ten second time bonus which would have lifted him over David Millar (Garmin-Cervélo) in the final standings.
He was one of several riders who crashed on the final left hand bend, though, and wasn’t able to chase that sprint result. He still finished the race a very solid fourth, 35 seconds behind the final victory Boasson Hagen.
A strong time trialist and good sprinter who is one of the top young talents in the sport, he’ll surely be back to chase overall success in future Eneco Tours, plus other such events. The years ahead should see solid progression from him, although he plays down any suggestions that he could battle for the overall classification in cycling’s top race. Stage wins are likely to be his goal instead.
“Right now I am skinny for me…I’m four percent body fat, and I’m still 82 kilos,” he said. “I’m a heavy guy and so when it comes to going up Tour de France climbs, I am not going to be following 62 kilo Alberto Contador.”
However on other terrain, his talent and ambition mean that he can set the bar very high.