Taylor Phinney has re-signed with EF Pro Cycling for the 2019 season. The American had a great Spring Classics season finishing 8th at Paris-Roubaix, a race he has always had a huge admiration of.
“I think I always had a strong passion towards Paris-Roubaix, there’s just something about that race, there’s a level of drama it has that doesn’t exist in any other race on the calendar. It was always the race that I looked forward to watching before I started racing it.”
This will be Phinney’s third season with EF Pro Cycling having moved from BMC Racing Team at the beginning of 2017, after having raced six seasons with them. When asked about Phinney re-signing with the team for 2019 here’s what EF Pro Cycling CEO Jonathan Vaughters had to say:
“Taylor. I don’t even know where to start! Obviously, he’s a talented bike racer with a depth of ability that’s uncommon, even at this level. We saw that at Paris-Roubaix this year. He’s clearly capable of great things, and he’s a very steady rider to have at a Grand Tour. He comes alive off the bike, too. His art, his point of view, his constant desire to wander. I like that about him, and I think as we expand our vision of what this team is moving forward he certainly fits into that really well.”
Phinney is highly motivated about the year ahead and being part of the team: “I mean I love it, there’s no other team that I could envision myself racing for in the professional peloton. I feel like I can be honest with everyone around me and myself and there’s not a ton of expectations thrown on you, on what you need to be and what you need to look like, and how you need to act. They just let you explore yourself and let you be who you want to be.
“The team obviously want to win races and do well and that’s a priority, but there’s not this cookie cutter that you need to be a certain way, or ride your bike a certain way to be on the team, which you’ll find on a lot of other programs.”
The 28-year-old will look forward to the Spring Classics again in 2019, as well as being excited for the alternative race schedule that the team plans to race next year.
“I think that it is the greatest thing ever. I mean when we were first hearing little rumors about the change and that Rapha wanted to come on board, it felt like all these different ideas that I had been talking about … all these adventures I had been thinking about, it was like someone had read my mind.”
