Taylor Phinney was a prototype of the wonder-kid generation. In his teens, he had already competed at the Olympic Games, won rainbow jerseys and signed a pro contract. Through his early 20s, Phinney claimed a number of high-profile wins at the UCI World Tour level including the prologue of the 2012 Giro d’Italia. After a brutal crash in 2014, Phinney reconsidered his sporting trajectory. After bowing out officially in 2019 to pursue art, Phinney has given us an interesting canvas to work with on today’s installment of the ‘WTF Happened To’ series.
Video features:
Ewan Wilson (@ewanswilson)
Taylor Phinney (@taylorphinney)
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45 Comments
loved this interview.
I met Taylor several time working the Amgen tour of California and he’s definitely a Diva. You could kinda see he really didn’t want to be there.
Great video, thanks for uploading! I didn't even know that guy… Well you sell your youth and may get trophies in return…
he is da homie
Excellent interview! It was great to hear the story from Taylor himself.
Did he grow up rich?
I didn't warm to him at the time, partly because of the Arsethong connection. The guy who appears here in the video is World Champion at surviving the peloton!! Someone else I know was supposed to go to Livestrong and didn't. Same palmares as well. Monster in TT's, gave up soon afterwards. Great intellect never makes for a long cycling career. There will always be exceptions, but the question arises, "why would I do this to myself"?
Met him at a party in Girona. Seemed like a lovely guy.
I have one of his water bottles. He handed it off at the Worlds in VA. Maybe, if the perfect cloning, I can clone him.
He went full on hipster
Looks like the leg injury caused what psychiatrists calls an ‘enduring personality change’
Was always a big fan of Taylor, hope his art career goes well!
Should be WTF happened to Danny Summer hill ?
Thanks for the video…I usually view pro-cyclists as unidimensional, single-minded robots (including Phinney) but now I have a different opinion of him and glad to see he's moved on gracefully. Many pros don't make the transition back to civilian life without serious issues. All the best.
I raced against his Dad,back in the 80s when the 7 eleven team made stops in the US. It was a total dream just to be out there with that caliber of racer's. He's Dad was quite and a true leader of the 7 Eleven team. Totally cool to see his son follow in his mom&dad's love of cycling. I wish him much success out side of racing.
i'm gonna say drugs
Such as shame…slowly killing off all those brain cells…and those majestic lungs are getting torched with all the weed….
Priceless summation of professional racing at 24:00 “But I can tell you from the inside that it’s just pushing through pain, and bluffing, and fucking with people, until you win”.
Dude has dropped a bunch of psychedelics since retiring and has found his calling. Good for him tbh!
What a great video and interview. I haven't followed the CD in a while so very glad to see it has grown. Taylor, it goes without saying, is a unique guy. But he shouldn't be seen as someone who 'gave up.' I think from his Dad's illness, to his injury, a light bulb simply went off with the message that he doesn't have to ask any one's permission to be happy.
always good to here from taylor
Sorry, he was overrated. Everyone had high hopes for him because of his parents.
Woah, lol I went to high school with Taylor. Worked next door to his parents later on. I knew he was getting big in the cycling world, but I had no idea!
Excellent video! Enjoyed watching this
Sorry, but Phiney was all about style over substance in the end. He was stealing a living as a Pro cyclist , albeit a talented enough man whose career was wrecked by injury. Bad injuries .
World Championships ? Senior Track ; A senior road team TT title (in a team full of talented TT guys ) and world title outside of the senior division. It’s obviously better than what many veterans of the senior peloton have done . However , many juniors and u23 champs don’t do much at elite level . Even Tour L’Avenir winners (a competition that has produced many great future riders and participants who won top races) does not guarantee a career at elite level where they enjoy protected rider status in their team for big races .
NO ONE who won won either the junior or U23 Paris Roubaix have come remotely close to winning the elite title. I maybe wrong , but I do not think they even made podium. 😊
Judging on his tendency to crash, you would never believe that Gerraint Thomas is a Paris Roubaix junior winner back in the early 2000s !
Track racing is not road racing either . You know this . Britain produced many top track men and women and bar Jiffy Wiggins, Thomas , and the other Welsh Ineos rider (sorry can not think of his name right now, a very good domestique , Luke something ) and Mark Cavendish (he was already a proven prolific winner on the road by his junior years ) yet many of their other top track team barely did much at pro conti level , not even strong ITT people.
Piney peaked early and faded . Injuries didn’t help. The hype (from the US , few in Europe feared him) was due to his nationality , marketability, personality and the fact that his dad was a very good rider and winner of good races .
He had a fine career at such a young age , but if he had been from the typical stronger cycling nations , he’d have just another good rider after his 3-4 th year at senior level , with the initial hype about him dying down due to no actual top wins to his name. I said Wins , not a win every now and again . Pre season UAE and US based competitions .
yes, I know that Tour of California in May (often with very very good line up of riders and was a brilliant race for the younger stage racers to go up against the top established GC guys not taking it too seriously so early in the season for them and also against the one day boys fatigued from the classics ) and the US Pro in August were UCI world tour races, (anyone that matters still wrecked from TDF or coming back to racing after the Giro ) ain’t going to shock the world
Seems like a real genuine guy… Good story to tell!
Remco😭😭
😎Rogla,😎GT,😎TGH
I volunteered as a bike escort in Chattanooga, TN at the time of his crash, I wasn’t out on the course this day though. It was shame one of us did this to him. I still have questions about the escorts they put on the course that day. I don’t think they chose the most veteran group to ensure the safety of peloton that day. It was a shame to see him go down for a stupid mistake on the Moto riders part. Wish our group had been part of it, I doubt our highly veteran lead rider would have made that same mistake.
I saw him planted into the guardrail posts coming down lookout mountain. I thought he was dead. I’ll never forget the sight of a lanky red figure wrapped around the posts below the Armco. It’s just started sprinkling at the top of the downhill and I had a terrible feeling so I backed off slightly, with a quick right-left, my fears confirmed.
Taylor was so approachable at the Tour of CA. I happened to see the team getting ready to be announced in the park the evening before the 1st day. We talked for a bit and he was so real and hilarious. I appreciated his segments at the TdF too. So glad he’s found another path fulfilling. I hear him about injuries and how your body never feels the same again. Hoping I can find some of his art. Thanks for sharing Taylor! Wishing you all the best.
A really nice intimate interview. I was a huge Taylor fan when he raced and a huge fan of him now with his new endeavors. I met his dad in Philly in the late 80's during one of the "corestates" races there when on team 7-11. I can relate to Taylor's career change first hand. Moving to a new more creative career after your mind says…"yeah enough of this, this was really great, no regrets but it's time to try this other thing that is really important to me as well." CHAPEAU DC!
Nice Besquiat inspired painting!
ok, my favorite cyclingdane video! Still wondering about time w/ cool polish girlfriend though…. ; )
Awesome parents
Taylor spent 15 minutes "autographing" my helmet at TDF 2018. Artified the whole back of it sitting on the spin bike after the time trial 🙂
He's buddies with Hincapie so I'm no fan.
That's nuts. I was literally thinking this on yesterdays ride. Good for him. He did what he could which is better than most. So where's the next American sensation for world cycling???
Such a talented and bright young man. Taylor was a joy for root for as a cyclist. I wish him much happiness in his current and future endeavors. Thanks for the excellent video @thecyclingdane.
I've always enjoyed his interviews and is another great one. It's just an interesting character to say the least. Most of us who have chased cycling dreams are also the types that become the "Uncle Ricco" from Napoleon Dynamite and question the what ifs for a very long time. He magically is not that person at all.
Vino was a known doper and most assuredly cheated his way to gold at the olympics, which cost Phinney the bronze.
Was such a sad crash.
🍀🍀🍀
How about who cares? Taylor Phinney was one of the most annoying people in the Peloton.
His comments from the bus were cringe-worthy.
I raced against Taylor Phinney in what I think was one of his first races at the Stazio Ball fields in Boulder Colorado. It was a cat 4 race and he wasn't in the category that long. I wanted to get back into racing at the time and previously raced at a higher category and it was the first race of the season. I had been training but there was a huge party the night before and I was hung over. It was an insanely windy March Day and on the first lap when we went uphill and turned 90 degrees right a huge gust of wind blew a rider over…that's where Taylor Phinney attacked and four of us went with him. We lapped the field but I couldn't hold the wheel of the other 4 and finished 20 seconds behind for 5th, of course Taylor won. Riding on training rides in Boulder especially the "Bus Stop" ride you frequently ride with established pro's but that was the only time I witnessed the metoric rise of a huge talent and it was cool to be in the race instead of watching from the sidelines. His Dad was on the sidelines cheering him loudly!
Unfortunately some people aren’t interested in YOU!!..they are interested in what they think you can do for them?!?
The only thing that happened to Phinney is that he's got strong principles.