Taylor Phinney thrills Colorado Classic crowd by surging with bold move but can’t hold lead

Photo by Ryan Muncy

From The Denver Post

COLORADO SPRINGS — Dissatisfied with the overall pace of a race he found “hesitant” for most of the afternoon, Boulder’s Taylor Phinney revved the crowd with a bold move about 20 miles from the finish in Thursday’s 93-mile opening stage of the Colorado Classic but couldn’t make it stick, finishing 42 seconds behind the peloton heading into Friday’s crucial stage in Breckenridge.

With dark storm clouds spilling over Pikes Peak and descending over the majestic Garden of the Gods to unleash torrential rain and hail, Phinney staked out a 30-second lead before getting swallowed up by the pack late in the race. John Murphy of Holoweski-Citadel Racing, who won the final stage of the final USA Pro Challenge two years ago in Denver, prevailed in a sprint finish.

“I just felt the calling and went for it,” said Phinney, who races for Cannondale-Drapac. “I thought I would maybe have a couple of companions, but I ended up just solo-dolo with like 30K. I just put my head down and went for it. I heard my name out there a lot, which was rad.”

Phinney said he began cramping on the last climb.

“It was delicious,” Phinney joked. “Didn’t get the big result today, but as a team we were really aggressive.”

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Photo by Ryan Muncy