LIEGE, Belgium — To get a jump on his career, Taylor Phinney picked the right parents.
His mother, Connie Carpenter, won the first women's Olympic road race, at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. His father, Davis Phinney, is a former multitime US champion cyclist and the second American to win a stage of the Tour de France, in 1987 with the famed American 7-Eleven team.
Taylor inherited their great genes and put them to good use. In his teens he started racing bikes seriously and won several world titles on the track before landing on an under-23 road team and competing in North America's biggest races. Eventually he landed a lucrative pro contract.
Then in a matter of seconds the fairy tale experienced a violent interruption.
In the 2014 US championship road race, Phinney crashed hard into guardrail while trying to avoid hitting a race motorcycle. It was a scary moment for the rising star of American cycling: He had suffered a compound fracture in his left tibia and a severed patellar tendon. He would spend the next year out of action and then two more years trying to overcome his injuries and strengthen a significantly weaker left leg.
Thirty-eight months — and multiple operations and physical-therapy sessions later — Phinney is now riding his first Tour de France, pro cycling's biggest stage, and he immediately found success.
Here's a quick look at how one of the most talented American cyclists came back from near-career-ending injury to become a star at the world's greatest race.
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A young Taylor Phinney, then 16, with his father, Davis Phinney, in 2007.
To this day, Taylor promotes his dad's foundation for Parkinson's, the Davis Phinney Foundation. He said he put his sister through college and helps his parents.
Phinney was inspired by his parents and raced on the track to several world titles.
From the outset it was clear he was a strong and talented time trialist, and he targeted key events nationally as well as the world championships and Olympics.
"I got into riding a bike as a kid and started racing when I was 15, but I really fell in love with winning," he told Peloton magazine. "I fell in love with being able to cross the line first with my hands up and maybe getting into the paper the next day. In high school, that was the coolest thing, getting all that attention."
Phinney quickly racked up world track titles, including pursuit gold in Poland in 2009.
With his easy smile and super-chill personality, Phinney became one of the popular faces of American cycling around the world.
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