VeloNews

The headline event in the States this weekend is the USA Cycling Professional National Championships in Greenville, South Carolina. Not to be lost in the shadows, however, are the oldest races on the National Racing Calendar, the Tour of Somerville, the 40th Iron Horse Bicycle Classic and the final stop on the Nature Valley Pro Ride.

Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing) and Ben King (RadioShack) are the defending national time trial and road champions, respectively. Last September the Trek-Livestrong teammates stormed Greenville, surprising in both events to become the youngest U.S. national professional champs ever. (read more)

Universal Sports

Most folks outside the sport of cycling don’t know the name Davis Phinney. American icon Lance Armstrong hopes that changes.

“He’s a tremendous human,” Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner, said last week. “He’s legendary. I think his name sometimes gets lost in that mix of Andy Hampstens and Greg LaMonds, but I think he’s still to this day the winningest cyclist in American history.”

Twenty years ago, Phinney led the first American cycling team that competed in the Tour de France. Although LeMond, of Minnesota, won in 1986, and his teammate Hampsten, of Colorado, was fourth, they competed for a French outfit. It was Phinney’s 7-Eleven team that helped create a robust U.S. racing community that eventually led to Armstrong’s unprecedented dominance in the world’s most prestigious cycling event.

Armstrong, a cancer survivor, has a special affinity for Phinney beyond cycling. He empathizes with the man who learned six years ago that he suffers from Parkinson’s disease, the neurological condition that affects body movement. The incurable disease, usually found in those over 60, is believed to have afflicted about one million Americans. (read more)

CyclingNews

Taylor Phinney may have spent the least amount of time on the track this year as any of his competitors in the best male track rider category, but Cyclingnews readers resoundingly rewarded the 20-year-old phenom with his first-ever Reader Poll award. The talented American earned 6,798 votes to top runner-up Chris Hoy by 2,735.

At the UCI Track World Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, the then 19-year-old Phinney won his second consecutive rainbow-striped jersey in the 4,000m individual pursuit. Winning a world championship, much less attempting back-to-back victories, is never an easy endeavor as Phinney faced stiff competition from New Zealand’s Jesse Sergent, his Trek-Livestrong teammate on the road, as well as Australia’s Jack Bobridge, who clocked the second fastest 4,000m pursuit time in history (4:14.427) en route to an Australian national championship in early February, a month and a half prior to the Worlds.

“I came here with the aim of defending my title, so it is really unbelievable to win,” Phinney said in Copenhagen. “It took a lot of effort, but it was worth it. The crowd was great, everybody cheering – it was awesome, that is all I can ask for.” (read more)

U.S. Olympian and reigning world individual-pursuit champion Taylor Phinney will make his professional cycling debut next week in the Tour (read more)