Taylor Phinney (Trek/Livestrong) making up time on the downhill. (Image credit: Jon Devich)
Reigning individual pursuit world champion Taylor Phinney was hospitalised at the St. Charles Medical Centre in Bend, Oregon with a severe concussion after crashing 100km into stage four of the BMC Cascade Cycling Classic.
"Talyor has a third degree concussion," said Trek-Livestrong directeur sportif, Axel Merckx. "He will stay overnight and will be re-evaluated in the morning."
Phinney was caught up in an accident after the front end of the peloton hit the brakes to avoid a parked truck on the side of the road during the Cascade Lake Road Race. Several riders went down in the accident however, Phinney bore the brunt of the injuries in the fall.
The talented youngster was using the six-day stage race as a preparation for the upcoming U23 national championships. "My main goal in racing here is to prepare for nationals where I want to try to qualify for world’s in the time trial," said Phinney before the start of the previous day’s time trial. "The time trial here should be good prep for nationals becuase it is a similar course."
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Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
