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Taylor Phinney, 36, is returning to the UCI Track World Championships for the first time in 16 years, leading the U.S. men’s team pursuit quartet. After retiring from road racing in 2019, he joined USA Cycling’s program following a successful spring tryout and won team pursuit gold at the U.S. National Track Championships. He says his longer-term aim is to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics; selection for those Games has not been confirmed.
Taylor Phinney is returning to the UCI Track World Championships for the first time in 16 years, taking the lead position in the U.S. men’s team pursuit quartet as he pursues a place at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The 36-year-old retired from road racing in 2019 and had not raced on the track for more than 15 years before joining USA Cycling’s program this year.
Phinney told Cycling Weekly that a friend contacted him early in the previous winter, saying USA Cycling was seeking powerful riders for its men’s team pursuit squad and asking whether he wanted an introduction to the coach. The suggestion surprised him. He had been away from professional road racing for six years and thought his track career was over, but said the idea stayed with him.
After speaking with U.S. endurance coach Jono Hailstone, Phinney agreed to attend a team camp in April in Carson, California. He said he paid his own travel costs from Girona, Spain, and arrived without a settled track-bike position or wind-tunnel data, adjusting his position between efforts. He described the tryout as successful. After further work, including wind-tunnel testing, he became part of the program and announced his return on Instagram in April.
Phinney later attended a U.S. team camp in Zolder, Belgium. In late August, he won team pursuit gold at the U.S. National Track Championships, according to Cycling Weekly. The report says he will lead the U.S. quartet at the Track World Championships. His stated longer-term objective is the Los Angeles Olympics, but his participation there is not assured by his return or current team role.
A Return With Los Angeles in View
Phinney’s return puts a former world champion back into elite track competition after a long break, but the story is also about a possible path toward the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The Games carry family meaning: his mother, Connie Carpenter-Phinney, won the inaugural Olympic women’s road race in Los Angeles in 1984, while his father, Davis Phinney, earned bronze in the team time trial at the same Games.
The comeback also brings a practical test of whether an experienced rider can adapt quickly to a specialist team pursuit program after years away. Phinney’s national title and place in the U.S. squad mark progress, but they do not establish that he will make the Olympic team. The World Championships provide a high-profile measure of his current return to competition.
There are personal costs as well. Phinney told Cycling Weekly that the August camp meant missing the Tour de France Femmes, where he had previously supported his wife, Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney. He also said training leaves him with less energy for creative work, though he views that sacrifice as limited by the time his body can compete at this level.
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From Road Retirement to Track Selection
Phinney retired at age 29 after his last road result, a DNF at the Japan Cup in October 2019. He had won a Giro d’Italia time-trial stage in 2012, taken silver in the road time trial at that year’s World Championships and later finished eighth at Paris-Roubaix. Cycling Weekly reported that injuries had contributed to his loss of enthusiasm for professional cycling.
After retirement, Phinney focused on art, including oil painting, and DJing, while occasionally taking part in gravel races. His track record was substantial before the hiatus: he had won two individual pursuit world titles, with his last Track World Championships appearance 16 years before this return. He said the removal of the individual pursuit from the Olympic program had left his track career feeling unfinished.
His route back began with training on a camp in Gran Canaria with his wife. Phinney said his legs felt good after spending considerable time in the gym, and he began to consider whether he could return. On February 1, he contacted USA Cycling and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency to ask to be reinstated in the testing pool, a step he later identified as the point when he was out of retirement.
“I thought it was a funny joke that somebody would even think that I was still capable of doing that.”
— Taylor Phinney, speaking to Cycling Weekly
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Olympic Selection Is Still Ahead
Phinney’s place at the 2028 Olympics has not been confirmed. The report describes Los Angeles as his goal, but does not establish selection criteria, the U.S. team’s final roster, or how his role may change as the program develops. The source also does not provide performance times or comparative results that would show how he measures up against other pursuit riders.
The World Championships are an important return to international competition, but one event cannot settle whether Phinney will remain in the program through the Olympic cycle. Further training, selection decisions and results will determine what comes next.
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World Championships and the Olympic Path
Phinney is set to lead the U.S. men’s team pursuit quartet at the Track World Championships, according to Cycling Weekly. The competition will mark his first appearance at the event in 16 years and offer a direct opportunity to race internationally as part of the current squad.
After the championships, the next steps are expected to include continued work with the U.S. program and further selection decisions on the road to Los Angeles. USA Cycling has not, in the source material, announced an Olympic roster or confirmed Phinney’s eventual participation at the 2028 Games.
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Key Questions
Why is Taylor Phinney returning to track cycling?
Phinney said a friend’s suggestion that USA Cycling needed powerful riders for its men’s team pursuit squad planted the idea. He also described the return as a chance to revisit a part of his track career that had felt unfinished.
When did Phinney last race at the Track World Championships?
His return is his first Track World Championships appearance in 16 years, according to Cycling Weekly.
Has Phinney qualified for the 2028 Olympics?
No Olympic selection has been confirmed. Phinney has said the Los Angeles Games are his goal, but the U.S. team’s final selection remains ahead.
What has Phinney achieved since starting his comeback?
He joined the U.S. track program after a spring tryout, attended a later team camp in Belgium and won team pursuit gold at the U.S. National Track Championships in late August.
Source: rss
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