<\/p>\n
A familiar name is gonna be back in the velodrome\u2013Taylor Phinney, former pro and recently\u2026mostly a gravel racer, DJ, and all-around cool dude. But those things will change shortly (can still be a cool dude, but one that will be training 6 hours a day for team pursuit.)<\/p>\n
\u201cNever in a million years could I have predicted this\u2026 but here we are :)\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s how Phinney put it, and it pretty much sets the tone. What started as a simple return to racing \u2014 gravel, low pressure, see how the legs feel \u2014 has drifted into something else entirely. His words: \u201cthe old horse still has some kick.\u201d<\/p>\n
He\u2019s calling it \u201cCOMEBACK3000,\u201d which gives you an idea of how seriously he\u2019s taking it\u2026 and also not taking it. At first, the Olympic angle wasn\u2019t even real. He says he laughed when the idea was floated. But between encouragement from USA Cycling and some steady backing from his wife, Kasia Niewiadoma, it stopped being a joke.<\/p>\n
Now it\u2019s a goal.<\/p>\n
The twist is where this is all heading. Not the road. Not gravel. The track.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where Phinney first made his name, long before his WorldTour years. It\u2019s also where things unraveled a bit: the individual pursuit, his event, dropped from the Olympic program, pushing him away from the velodrome altogether. He moved on. Or thought he had.<\/p>\n
Lately, though, the U.S. men\u2019s team pursuit squad has been building something, and that\u2019s pulled him back in. Not as a nostalgia act, but as someone trying to contribute.<\/p>\n
He admits there\u2019s a gap. The gym work, the position, even just getting comfortable in a TT setup again \u2014 it\u2019s been, what, seven years? But after a first camp, he sounds\u2026 pleasantly surprised. He slotted in better than expected, especially for someone who\u2019s only been properly back training since November.<\/p>\n
More than anything, he keeps coming back to the feel of it. The speed, sure, but also the group.<\/p>\n
\u201cAwesome to be back in a team environment,\u201d he wrote. The vibe matters.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no guarantee any of this ends with the Olympics in L.A.\u00a0 He knows that. But he\u2019s in the mix now \u2014 chasing World Cups, trying to help push the program forward, seeing how far this goes.<\/p>\n
Not planned. Definitely not predictable.
But it\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n
Phinney had a helluva run in the pro ranks. Remember the polka dot jersey? The silver at the worlds? Since retiring, he\u2019s been busy on the trails, and Instagram, and droppin\u2019 tracks and stuff.<\/p>\n
Plus, he just happens to be married to one of the greatest female cyclists in the world (dude takes after his father, clearly) Kasia Nieuwdoma.<\/p>\n
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