"We can have a really special Classics season as a team"
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Taylor Phinney has some fun with his new trophy(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Fernando Alonso and Taylor Phinney (BMC)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Taylor Phinney (BMC) at the start of stage 2 of the Dubai Tour(Image credit: ANSA/Peri-Carcone)
Taylor Phinney's overall victory at the Dubai Tour has the left American and his BMC team confident for the rest of the early season races and especially the spring Classics.
Steve Cummings finished second overall and BMC also won the team prize, with only Marcel Kittel (Giant-Shimano) sharing in the success thanks to his three stage victories.
Phinney celebrated his first stage race as a professional in Dubai on Sunday night but was already thinking ahead to his next goal: the time trial at the Tour de Méditeranéen and then the cobbled Classics.
He and the team has suffered on the cobbles and struggled to live up to expectations. However Allan Peiper incisive management strategy and Phinney's victory in Dubai have left the team full of confident.
"I think we can have a really special Classics season as a team. We need to have that year now. We've been close in the past but due for a big Classics season. I hope I can play my part in that," Phinney told Cyclingnews in an exclusive video interview.
Phinney won the opening time trial and then rode a perfect race and was perfectly protected by his teammates in the other stages.
"I felt like it was my race to lose after day one but the team did an amazing ride in these past three days and just kept everything as seamless as possible for me. I have them to thank for this overall victory," he said.
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"I'm super relieved we were able to make it here (to the finish) safe and sound after the final stage."
Next stop the Tour de Méditeranéen
Phinney will head to his new European home in Nice and then travel down the French coast for the opening 223km road stage on Thursday.
"I'm going to the Tour du Med and there's a 20km time trial there. It's a bit hilly but I'm going to go for that. Then we dive into the Classics, with Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Paris-Nice and then the big ones. They're not too far off and I'm really happy with my form," Phinney explained.
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