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Old 05-29-19, 08:14 PM
  #2433  
carleton
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Originally Posted by Morelock
Sadly it seems since Project 96 that US interest in track (at least at a high level) has fallen off, at least for men. I wonder if Phinney would trade his Polkadot jersey from the tour for an Olympic medal on the track? I doubt it. The dream of something like Roubaix seems to eclipse everything else, no matter how unlikely.

I'm not sure about other countries, but here for a domestique to swap to track, they'd probably be taking a big pay cut (not saying they are getting fat paid as is) and most can't afford to do that.
You make good points.

I wonder if Phinney would trade his Polkadot jersey from the tour for an Olympic medal on the track? I doubt it.

Maybe not for one medal, but recall that Phinney was the Enduro that hung with the Sprinters in the Kilo:


The day after winning the 4k pursuit, Taylor Phinney wins gold in the 1k and sets another new American record.


A day after setting a new American record and winning gold in the individual 4 kilometer pursuit, Taylor Phinney set another American record on his way to winning the 1K time trial. Phinney's time of 1:01.641 was a split second faster than the previous U.S. record of 1:01.825, set by Erin Hartwell, in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1995. The world record of 58.875 was set by Arnaud Tournant in La Paz, Bolivia in 2001.
https://www.velonews.com/2009/02/tra...n-record_87736

2009:


2010:



If Hoy enjoyed 6 Olympic Gold medals and one Silver, how many might Phinney (the prodigious child of 2 Olympians) have won across endurance (mass start, Omnium, IP, TP) and sprint events (kilo, keirin)?


Last edited by carleton; 05-29-19 at 08:27 PM.
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