Taylor Phinney targets LA 2028 team pursuit in surprise cycling comeback

Taylor Phinney is returning to professional cycling. The 35-year-old American retired in 2019, but has announced he will focus on a comeback. The goal is the Olympic Games at Los Angeles 2028. He will not target the road, but his first love: the track.

Phinney is the son of former pro Davis Phinney, who won two stages of the Tour de France. His mother, Connie Carpenter-Phinney, won the first ever women's Olympic cycling gold medal in the road race at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Phinney junior was regarded as one of the greatest talents of his generation, winning a world title in the under-23 time trial and Paris-Roubaix at under-23 level. In his first two years as a full professional, he showed that talent on the biggest stage.

He won the opening time trial of the 2012 Giro d'Italia and finished second at the World Time Trial Championships in Valkenburg that same year. After that, things went downhill for the American, who could not live up to the sky-high expectations. A catastrophic leg injury at the 2014 US National Championships derailed his career. He retired at 29 to pursue a career in art. Recently he took up gravel riding and rediscovered his love for the bike.

The idea slowly began to grow. What if there was more to it? "I laughed it off at first, but with encouragement from wifey Kasia Niewiadoma the seed started to grow and before I knew it all I could think of was closing this final loop in my cycling career," Phinney wrote on Instagram. He will pursue a spot in the US men's team pursuit squad.