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By Ophir Sefiha
Photo: Ophir Sefiha
“I’d shake your hand but this one’s a bit cut up,” says Taylor Phinney as we sit down to talk at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine in Boulder, Colorado. His knuckles show the signs of a brush with the pavement, and an elbow is covered with gauze. Despite the injury and the past two hours spent answering questions from a gaggle of reporters, Taylor is lively and ready to talk. Mom and dad are there, with his coach Neal Henderson, representatives from Team Garmin-Chipotle and even a cinematographer filming a documentary about the 18-year-old world champion. And when one considers his results during the past two years (world record in the 3km individual pursuit, World Cup winner in the 4km pursuit and junior world TT champion) this type of attention shouldn’t really come as a surprise — this is the kid Allen Lim once described as “another species.”
Phinney knows this recent attention from the mainstream media, including ESPN, The New York Times and NBC, comes by virtue of his upcoming participation in the Beijing Olympics. He will be the youngest American cyclist ever to compete in the Games, and while most Olympians take up their sport soon after learning to walk, Phinney has been racing bikes just three years — and is considered a strong medal contender nevertheless.
His results this season include a gold in the individual pursuit at the Los Angeles World Cup and a victory in the time trial stage at the Swiss Tour du Pays du Vaud. But perhaps the strongest indicator that he could bring some Chinese hardware home came just two weeks ago when he shattered the 3km junior record by more than a second at the ADT Event Center in Carson, California.
In Beijing, Phinney will race the 4km individual pursuit, an all-out effort of four and a half minutes that demands razor-sharp focus. Sitting with him, his parents, coach, various handlers and other journalists, each patiently waiting as he answers the others’ questions, one wonders whether all this media attention, which will undoubtedly amplify as the Games draw closer, could frazzle a kid still three years away from a legal beer.
Reclining in a chair while sipping on a comically tiny bottle of water, Phinney considers this question for a moment and responds by explaining what life was like during the three years his family lived in Italy.
“I had an hourlong interrogation exam, all in Italian, just to graduate from middle school,” he said. It was honestly the scariest moment of my life. There was a lot of pressure to be able to speak the language, to carry on a conversation with my peers. After those experiences, I don’t really get that nervous anymore. I feel like if I can handle that, I can handle racing.”
VeloNews: You will be racing the junior worlds in South Africa next week. What events will you be doing and do you have any specific goals?
Taylor Phinney: I’ll be racing the pursuit and the time trial. I’m hoping to bring the world champion’s jersey back home again. I think I have a really good shot at the pursuit. Unfortunately, I’m going to miss the road race because I’m going to Bordeaux, France, to fine-tune for the Olympics.
VN: It seems most everyone who has ridden for Garmin-Chipotle over the years has in some way been helped by team physiologist Allen Lim. Have you gleaned any knowledge from the guru?
TP: Neal Henderson is my full-time coach but Allen has been this big mountain of information for me. He’s always reading scientific journals that deal with cycling and passing on that information to the riders. Things about preserving energy while in the pack and generally being as efficient as possible. He’s also talked to me about different cooling techniques. The first time I used the cooling vests I broke the world record. I used to just use a big Gatorade towel dunked in ice water. Another idea he had was, for our team time trial, we’d get skinsuits to look like the Justice League . . . but we need to keep that on the down low. …”
VN: Where do you see yourself in five years?
TP: On a ProTour team racing the spring classics and the Tour, oh, and an Olympic gold medalist in the pursuit in 2012. Roubaix is my kind of race. But I think I could be good at the Ardennes classics but the cobbles are more my forte. I’ve raced the junior Paris-Roubaix and it showed me I could be good at it. I crashed three times and flatted. With 30k to go I bridged up to the leading group of 30 but just as I made contact there was another crash right in front of me that put me in a ditch. I was about to get on my bike and I saw that I had a flat tire so I was just sitting there waiting for my team car but they didn’t see me crash and thought I was still up in the lead group. So I ended up in the broom wagon. But it showed me I was capable of being up there.
VN: What do you like better, road or track?
TP: I think eventually for me it’s all about the road.
VN: Is this somewhat of a financial decision? Let’s say you could make the same amount of money doing either.
TP: Even if I could make the same money, there are just so many things about road racing that are better. I really like the track, but training just for the track is not really all that fun; you just go in circles forever. Racing up a mountain is completely different. But I do love the track, especially because it’s an Olympic event that suits me and the Olympics is the most special and honorable sporting event in the world.
VN: What has been your most fulfilling result so far?
TP: Winning the world championships in the TT. There is something really special about getting to wear the rainbow jersey. But an Olympic medal in August will definitely top that.
VN: So what’s the deal with the trampoline? Word has it that you tear it up on the tramp.
TP: Before I was riding I used to be really into free-skiing. I wanted to pursue it more but I figured out I was too fragile. I crashed a lot. I would get these huge hematomas on my hip that wouldn’t go away. I’d hit trees and other objects. So I realized this was not my career path. But I still like watching it and I still like skiing but I can’t really do it now so I just do tricks on the trampoline. But I’ll definitely ski when I retire from cycling.
VN: Last question, which Chipotle burrito does Taylor Phinney eat?
TP: Barbacoa. I’m allergic to avocados so no guacamole for me.