Phinney crashes out while searching for contract
Despite reports to the contrary, Taylor Phinney and BMC-Racing Team both announced that no deal has been signed between them. It had been reported that the American cyclist signed a four-year contract with the team, but Phinney has said, ‘for the record, I have not signed ANYTHING with anyone yet.’
"We wanted to find riders who could not only fill our needs, but also fit well within 'the family' that is the BMC Racing Team," said team president Jim Ochowicz.
The 20-year-old cyclist is currently riding on trial with Team RadioShack but has already made it clear that he is in search of a reliable long-term contract under which to settle into his professional career. He won the prologue and the time-trial in the Tour of Utah with RadioShack, and went on to take control of the Tour de l’Avenir early in the race. He has since lost his chance of a good overall performance in the eight-day French race when he crashes in the second stage and finished in last place, nearly twenty minutes behind the stage winner.
"I was in shock for a little while and not moving my left arm or shoulder very much and the doctor was worried about it,” said Phinney. “They were trying to get me in the ambulance but I wanted to finish and didn't want to quit the race. I knew right when I crashed that my yellow jersey hopes were over but I'm glad I could finish.”
Now added to the stress of his search for a team, the American cyclist also has to make the difficult decision of whether or not to continue the race. If he continues, he risks developing a major injury, whereas if he abandons, he risks losing his form before the UCI Road World Championships in Australia at the end of the month.
"It's up for grabs whether I start," said Phinney. "If it's raining and it's dangerous I won't start. Basically it's the biggest race here for some guys and everyone is taking risks so there's been a lot of crashes.”
Phinney will be competing in the US time-trial championships before the Worlds, where he hopes to draw some attention from the Pro Continental squads. Now with Trek-Livestrong, he was expected to make the standard move from that team to Team RadioShack, but with Armstrong’s team only committed for one more season, Phinney is looking for a more stable, long-term team with whom to begin his professional career.
"I want to be on the same team for the next two years just so I don't have to change bikes or anything like that for the Olympics. That's why the options have opened up. Once they opened up it was like opening the floodgates. There were a lot of different offers and angles."
While several teams have expressed interest in Phinney, including the newly-formed Luxembourg based team of the Schleck brothers, the US-based BMC-Racing Team seems likely, and would place Phinney alongside of champion cyclists Cadel Evans, Alessandro Ballan, and George Hincapie.
"The talent we have acquired will be beneficial to our stage racing group, to our roster for the Grand Tours and to our team for the Classics," said BMC-Racing director John Lelangue. "That's the reason we're representative all season and that's important to us."
BMC-Racing also announced six more signings on Monday from four different nations, including Greg Van Avermaet, Yannick Eijssen and Amaël Moinard.
“Racing with great champions such as Cadel Evans, George Hincapie and Alessandro Ballan is a good opportunity for me to grow,” said Moinard. “I think I can be a good teammate in the difficult stage races or the Classics.”
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