| Argyle Insider: Falling leaves, final chances and Phinney's homecoming |
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| The later-than-usual 2016 World Championships may have required a few adjustments - to the race calendar, to training plans, to the typical post-season holidays - yet this September feels like the ones that have come before as we look toward the final WorldTour race of the season, welcome new names (and a few old ones) into the Argyle Armada, and lay the foundations for another successful season. |
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WELCOME HOME TAYLOR: THE EXTENDED VERSION
Earlier this week we announced that Taylor Phinney was joining Cannondale-Drapac in 2017. The move represents a homecoming of sorts for Phinney who first rode for Slipstream Sports CEO Jonathan Vaughters' development team. The press release we issued earlier this week included comments from Phinney and Vaughters, but now we dig deeper, taking an in-depth look at Phinney's return to his roots.
Phinney says: "JV was the first guy to give me a job as a cyclist when I was 15. He put me on the TIAA-CREF junior team [Team 5280 Magazine] At that time, they also had an under 23 team. Tejay Van Garderen was on the team. Alex Howes was on the team. Brady Kappius was on the team. Walker Savidge. All these guys that I’ve kept in touch with since then. Peter Stetina … I met up with JV and was just kind of running him through some of the things that were going on in my mind. How I was feeling about the sport. How I felt like I needed to make a change. This opportunity presented itself to bring my career into a full circle in one way. It definitely feels like a fresh new start, which I’m excited about. The last few years have been pretty trying, pretty tough. Super rewarding. But at the same time, I’ve been putting a lot of injury into recovering from this ultra-broken leg that I had in 2014."
Read the whole conversation here. |
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WELCOME TO CROSSING THE LINE
We’re pleased to announce that Crossing the Line, a team of athlete-welfare professionals, have joined Cannondale-Drapac. Former world champion Rower Gearoid Towey founded the organization in order to help athletes develop professionally and personally outside of sport so that once an athlete retires they aren’t without options. Gearoid himself has personally worked with the Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club and the New South Wales Institute of Sport in athlete personal development before starting Crossing the Line. The mission of the organization is to help change sporting culture by putting athlete wellbeing at the forefront by recognizing it as a key element of attaining sustainable, high performance.
"I am delighted to be appointed as the personal development director for the Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team,” Towey said. “This is important work — it benefits riders during their careers and long after they retire. I learned this through my own sporting career and in the work I have done with athletes since. I have immense respect for cyclists and I am looking forward to helping the team demonstrate the benefits of this work to the wider cycling community.”
Stay tuned for more developments in this program. We’re excited to see what the future holds for our riders, on and off the road. For more info visit: http://crossingthelinesport.com/. |
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CANNONDALE-DRAPAC EYES TOP STEP OF THE PODIUM AT IL LOMBARDIA
We headed to Italy last week for six one-day races. With five races done, we've scored a pair of third place finishes courtesy of Rigoberto Uran. Mike Woods recorded a second place finish at Milano-Torino. Tom-Jelte Slagter narrowly missed the podium at Tre Valli Varesine when he sprinted to fourth from a small bunch, and Alberto Bettiol rounded out the top ten in the Giro del Piemonte sprint. The boys are fit, ready and chomping at the bit for the final showdown tomorrow. Il Lombardia is a big one for a myriad of reasons: finale to the Italian one-day races, final Monument, final WorldTour race and, for many, final race with their 2016 teams.
As head sport director Charly Wegelius said: “The days when large parts of the peloton rode Lombardia with their minds already on their holiday plans are long gone. The race will be hotly contested by a mixture of classic riders and climbers. Holidays can wait when such a prestigious race is up for grabs.”
Read our race preview on the eve of this all-important late season classic. |
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