American looks to the future after two fourth place finishes
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Taylor Phinney (United States) at the start(Image credit: Daniel Simms)
Taylor Phinney (United States)(Image credit: Sirotti)
Taylor Phinney (United States)(Image credit: Sirotti)
Taylor Phinney (United States of America) finished just outside the medals at the Olympic Games road events for the second time with today's fourth place finish in the men's time trial to go along with his fourth place performance in Saturday's road race.
The 22-year-old American came into the Olympics determined to win a medal and the time trial looked like his safest bet after a win in the Giro d'Italia prologue earlier this year. In a bid to sustain his power for a 40 kilometre course Phinney trained at home in the US and sacrificed any racing ambitions until the Games.
His fourth place in the road race demonstrated his impressive form but in the time trial he came up short, with Bradley Wiggins, Chris Froome and Tony Martin preceding Phinney in the results. All three medalists had ridden the Tour and with a wealth of experience pushed Phinney down into fourth.
"I came out here and I knew that I had trained specifically for this and I was confident in my abilities. I knew that it was going to be a tough task with the guys that I'm up against so in a way fourth place is good result for me based off the 15th place I had in Copenhagen at the Worlds last year. That's a big step on similar course, on a similar distance," Phinney said at the finish.
"But again, I'm just so close to that medal. I'm a guy who likes time trials under the distance of 10 kilometres so coming around for 44 … it's all in your head really and it's down to the amount you're willing to suffer and I knew I was on a good time. It's a good result but I can't believe I got fourth twice."
Although clearly upset with his two fourth places Phinney also took a positive outlook on events.
"It's a great confidence booster going forward and thinking about the Worlds and then thinking about the next couple of years. It's a testament to the training I've been doing at home and the support I've received from my home town of Boulder and the whole US. I've heard my name a lot here and that's really special. I just wish I could have got that medal to show off to them.
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"The main positive is that I'm up there with the best guys in the world in a length of a time trial that I've not been comfortable with yet. So that's huge for me. A lot of people have been saying that I'm the next this and the next that, that I'll win this or that. Getting fourth here is a great confidence booster going forward and I would like to be that guy on the top step of the podium in the next few years. I'd also like to win a couple of world championships between now and then. Now I know I can be up there and I want to keep this rolling."
Daniel Benson was the Editor in Chief at Cyclingnews.com between 2008 and 2022. Based in the UK, he joined the Cyclingnews team in 2008 as the site's first UK-based Managing Editor. In that time, he reported on over a dozen editions of the Tour de France, several World Championships, the Tour Down Under, Spring Classics, and the London 2012 Olympic Games. With the help of the excellent editorial team, he ran the coverage on Cyclingnews and has interviewed leading figures in the sport including UCI Presidents and Tour de France winners.
