Ochowicz stresses the need for patience and support is vital
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Taylor Phinney (BMC) stays tucked in tight for his winning ride(Image credit: Jonathan Devich/CN)
Taylor Phinney shows off his aero TT position(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Taylor Phinney (BMC)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Taylor Phinney talks to the media after riding the 2015 world time trial championship course in Richmond(Image credit: Sue George, Mountain Bike Editor)
Taylor Phinney at the BMC bus in Apsen for the first stage of the USA Pro Challenge(Image credit: Pat Malach/Cyclingnews)
Jim Ochowicz on the podium with the winners prize(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Jim Ochowicz (Image credit: Daniel Simms)
Taylor Phinney’s return to racing is yet to be determined but BMC Racing’s Jim Ochowicz believes that the American racer is making progress.
It’s nearly a year since Phinney crashed out of the national road championships in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and shattered his left leg. Since then he has undergone multiple surgeries – the latest of which was in January but no date or race is confirmed for his comeback. Originally the American pencilled in a comeback at the Dubai Tour in February but those plans were later shifted with a potential return for the Tour of California.
The US race is just a matter of days away and Phinney is not yet in the required shape to take part, and Ochowicz, rather understandably, is taking a more pragmatic view on his rider’s recovery.
“I hope he’ll race again this season because I think it would be important for him to get some races in just for confidence. That would be good for him and I’d love to see that happen so that he can have some confidence going into the winter and then come back in the spring for Paris-Roubaix.
“I can’t put a comeback down in terms of a percentage but he’s not ready yet and we take it week by week. It could be two months, three months, four, I don’t know yet.”
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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.
