Taylor Phinney - Pro cyclist Trek Livestrong Team

WORLD RECORD

June 9th kicked off the Trials week for the Track team & offered T a good chance to get some track time in. But first, a detour to Giro where he picked up his custom aero helmet.   He’d been off the track for 10 weeks - since Manchester Worlds - and hitting the road pretty hard so it was time to sort it out a bit on the boards in LA.  Amazingly, nothing was lost - in fact much was gained as T was strong from the start all the way through the Camp.  This was an important phase training-wise as it was the last real solid time for him to experiment with position/gear/warmup routines/feeding, etc.  The training, organized by coach Neal Henderson and supported by National Coach Andy Sparks was focused and of good volume through out the week.   Wednesday afternoon found us getting custom fitted Shimano shoes (thanks Wayne!) and having a bit of a shopping spree at Oakley (thanks Blick!).  The final two days were set aside to simulate the race format of the Games while the endurance riders vied for spots and the Sprinters established their hierarchy.  One BIG ride, followed the next day by TWO BIGGER rides.  Instead of hitting all 16 laps for the 4k, we notched it back to the 3k distance (12 laps).  This is also the Junior Worlds distance and the target was to break the World Record of 3 min 17.75 seconds held by Michael Ford of Australia.  In fact, because of the Trials nature of the event - electronic timing, a UCI commissaire, and doping control were all in place –and a requirement for a record to be ratified by the UCI.  T hammered the first ride on Sunday in 3 min 16.252 seconds but it would not be considered for the record as there was no doping control Sunday.  T followed up with a 3′16.589 for the second ride and the New WORLD RECORD.  Two hours later he cruised to a third sub’3′17″ ride (3′16.932).  In all three rides he felt great and was not stretched (he rode solo each time).  Training and racing are on track, pun intended.Let’s say, all systems go.