Second year Team BMC pro Taylor Phinney seemed excited yet reserved and humble about his 2012 Olympic team selection this past week saying it was a "gamble" to include him. But here is why Taylor deserves the selection, even if it is a gamble.
Deserving a Spot Due to Performance
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| Captain America - David Zabriskie en route to winning his 7th US TT title |
Any Olympic selection is a gamble, unless you are such a dominate force in your sport that to not pick you is a gamble. But obviously some picks are a bigger gamble than others. Taylor has proven himself in the time trial over the past two years as a pro with several big wins, none bigger than the 2012 Giro Prologue giving him the leaders Pink jersey no less. But the dominant force in the time trial and a sure bet is reigning USA time trial champion, David Zabriskie. Dave is renowned for his TT skills and seems to take the US title more often than Tiger Woods takes a mistress, well actually David's only won it seven times. However, the 2010 edition gave the win to Taylor just narrowly beating perennial Tour contending TT specialist himself, Levi Leipheimer (Zabriskie didn't compete in 2010). Taylor can win almost any Time Trial, so picking him isn't such an odd choice, even with his youth and the longer distance Taylor is still regarded as a threat as he's maturing more each year. This years US TT championship did not pit David against Taylor (Taylor was in Italy for the Giro) so a head to head comparison isn't available.
In addition, with the new
USADA allegations against Lance Armstrong several riders that testified previously (and possibly admitting some former doping) have
recused themselves
from possible selection - Christian Vande Velde, Levi Leipheimer,
George Hincapie and David Zabriskie - leaving no doubt that Taylor was
the best pick for this event based on his record.
Deserving a Spot Based on 2011 World TT Championships to Determine Olympic Qualifying
The 2011 World Champions didn't go that well for Taylor as he only netted a 15th place in the 46.4 km Time Trial. However, Taylor was the best placed American with Andrew Talansky slotting the next best American finish at 16th place just behind Taylor. The Worlds course was a longer TT than most Taylor has raced and certainly a bit above a first year pro's range, yet he was surprisingly well placed all things considered. The kicker here is that the USA would have been allowed another rider to compete in the 2012 Olympics if they would have garnered a top 10 placing in the Worlds time trial. Since Taylor was the top US finisher at 15th, Team USA is now only allowed to field one rider for the upcoming Olympics at this discipline.
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| Taylor in the 2011 World TT Championships - 15th Place. |
But in fairness to Taylor, he actually competed in the 2011 Worlds TT unlike Levi, David Zabriskie or almost any other TT renagade the US would have selected for the Olympic games. If Zabriskie or any other of the American hopefuls trying to make the TT squad had really felt it was in their interest to help, they would have competed at the Worlds and actually assisted the team in getting that extra rider. Instead, the chances for Team USA to gather a gold medal in the TT was cut in half by simply having our other top riders forgo the 2011 Worlds TT race. For this very reason, Taylor should be considered above any of those riders that qualified for the Worlds TT, but refused to participate. If a rider isn't interested in helping the team qualify for the event, they shouldn't really be considered for the event either.
Lucky for Taylor, he deserves the spot on his merits and no one should be arguing that. Taylor should be proud of his selection and realize the gamble was taken by the other riders when they decided not to race the 2011 World Championships and still hoped to get that one coveted slot.
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