twodimensional

https://velonews.com/article/92662/taylor-phinney-wins-paris-roubaix-u23

discuss.

pacificaslim

The kid sure seems like the real deal. The other guys must have knew they were doomed as soon as he hit the track!

botto 

why?

dmotoguy

Impressive.. imagine the pressure of having eddy merckx in your team car... wow.

twodimensional

You have to wonder how many people have won this race at age 18. It's insane. I can't wait to see this guy at worlds.

botto 

Duke of Kent

He's a powerful rider, yes, but a smart and strong racer can often times beat a stronger one.

Just because someone is a good 4km and kilo guy, doesn't mean he's an awesome track tactician.

CEE

doesn't mean he isn't

Voodoo76

Wow, thats a big win.

Panic

I would have figured his track experience would certainly have been a huge advantage.

cmh

I'm not sure he has that much applicable track experience. He has only been racing for a couple years, and his track efforts have been focused on kilo and pursuit. I would bet that all 10 of the other riders in the velodrome have been racing longer than Taylor, probably with more track experience as well.

Obviously he had the smarts and power to win. And an awesome win it is.

Dubbayoo

I don't think his track skill makes him a better roadie; more the other way around.

YMCA

Imagine Eddy Merckx married Jeannine Longo.
They have a boy who likes to ride.
Next thing you know, he's destroying the world before puberty.
I look forward to Taylor's development.

edit: something didn't sound quite right with that

Hocam

I wish he was a climber.

There are currently no great American climbers, it'd be nice to have one just dominate the Italians and basque guys.

Creakyknees

remember who this kid grew up with... and who owns his team... and who his DS is... I suspect he was bounced on Eddy's knee as a toddler and gets a lot of support from the old man.

patentcad

You won't know if Phinney can climb until he's riding in the UCI. I suspect he'll surprise everyone.

twodimensional

The guy's bigger than Miguel. I don't think Contador is too worried.

Frunkin

He lost minutes in Fleche du Sud as soon as it went up. He's not going to be a climber.

merckx89

In other news, my teammate, Kendall Ryan, won the womens paris roubaix. Going on to the worlds road race. Good day for American cycling.

ColorChange

Wow ... awesome win! Watching his development with great anticipation.

deadly downtube

the kid is beating the pants off people at the age of 18 and people here are saying he's too big to climb? so is 6ft2 the cutoff? 'cause that's what miguel was, and i think he won a few tours de frances, which i believe featured mountains that had to be climbed. at 6ft4 phinney has no chance? i guess i could stand to watch a tall lanky american win paris roubaix, even if it's not george.

grolby

It's not the "6 ft 4," it's the "180 lbs."

No sense in wishing he was a climber; a lot of the big wins in the area that the U.S. has yet to really break into - the Classics, George Hincapie notwithstanding - don't exactly require awesome climbing prowess.

Fat Boy

I'm not going say he can't be a grand tour contender, but he certainly has a big challenge ahead of him physically because of his size to get there. He looks to be a perfect match for some of the 1 week tours and the classics, though.

To be 18 and so strong in U23 racing is pretty impressive.

Ryon

If the kid can time trial and the kid can sprint, who says he can't learn to fly? The kid is 18! If he keeps at it and keeps his head on straight, he could be lethal in a grand tour.

grolby

It's basically a question of whether he is carrying around a lot of extra weight in muscle because of his track background. Given his age and the short time he's been racing, that's by no means certain. And, even assuming he has the other characteristics needed to be a real GT contender, he could well seriously hurt his chances of being a contender in the classics for a possibly unattainable dream. I don't get the wanking from some quarters about pushing for another American TdF win. There are other races out there. Phinney has the talent and potential to win a whole lot of them. If he can go for a GT on top of that, great, but let's get a grip, here - if he can't/doesn't, that won't diminish his career in the slightest, unless of course he were to waste his talents on just one race. Luckily, his parents, his mentors and Phinney himself are much smarter than that. In any case, patience - he's 19. He has a loooong way to go yet. We'll start seeing more of what sort of rider he is in, oh, four years or so.