“Lemon still has juice to squeeze”: American Taylor Phinney sets massive 11-second PR in track comeback at World Championships

Taylor Phinney may have finished eighth in the men’s individual pursuit at the 2026 UCI Track World Championships, but the American left Shanghai with something he had not expected to achieve so soon after returning from retirement: a personal best that was more than 11 seconds faster than his previous benchmark. At 36, and nearly seven years after stepping away from professional road racing, Phinney believes his comeback has only just begun.

Phinney clocked 4:05.529 over the 4,000-meter distance on Friday, a substantial improvement on the 4:16.6 he recorded years ago. Although the time was well outside the medal positions, he was delighted with the performance, particularly given the strength of the field and the limited time he has spent rebuilding his track form.

“Yoooo this one honestly is wild for me to wrap my head around! A PR by nearly 10s in the IP, yes yes positions, technology, etc., but damn, I’m hyped with this one!” he wrote on Instagram.

The event was won by Italy’s Jonathan Milan, who set a world record of 3:58.850 in qualifying before going on to claim the rainbow jersey. Phinney’s ride came in the same session as Milan’s record, giving the American a close-up view of the level he hopes to reach as he targets a place in the US team pursuit squad for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

“I was hoping to go under 4:10 but once I got out there the vibe was right and the track was ripping,” Phinney said. “To be top ten with this field is a huge result, something I am super proud of and have worked hard all year for.”

Phinney’s return to the velodrome is not a new sporting experiment for someone who built much of his early reputation on the track. He won the US national individual pursuit title at 17 before claiming consecutive world titles in the discipline in 2009 and 2010, establishing himself as one of the most promising young endurance riders in American cycling.

He subsequently developed into a successful road racer with BMC Racing and later EF Education First, winning a stage of the Giro d’Italia in 2012. His career also included a fourth place in the individual time trial at the 2012 London Olympics.

But his path was interrupted by a serious crash at the 2014 USA Pro Challenge, in which he sustained a broken leg. Phinney returned to competition, although he never fully recaptured the trajectory of his early career, and announced his retirement from professional road cycling in 2019 at the age of 29.

After several years away from the professional peloton, gravel racing helped rekindle his interest in competitive cycling. The approach of the Los Angeles Olympics also provided a compelling reason to consider another attempt at elite sport.

Despite his confidence after the ride, Phinney admitted that the start list had initially made him nervous. “When I saw the start list yesterday and they had me tucked between [Filippo] Ganna and Milan in the first heats I’m not gonna lie I felt some weight on my chest,” he wrote.

“Even before the start, I had no modern reference for going this fast and competing at this level so I figured it could either go alright or I should be braced for the worst.”

Once the race began, however, he found a rhythm that allowed him to maintain a consistent pace for most of the four kilometers. “I held steady at 15.0 laps after starting a bit hot and only started to come undone in the last two laps… I’m so inspired for more and beyond grateful to my mentor Tim Decker for getting me back to this point in just 10 months time.”

Watching Milan break the world record immediately after his own ride made the experience even more memorable. “To watch Jonathan Milan rip a world record right after my ride was cherry on top of the experience for me. To see it done, just after feeling it…I want it all baby let’s go! Lemon still has juice to squeeze.”

The US team pursuit squad did not reach the medal finals in Shanghai, finishing seventh after being eliminated in the first round. Phinney had joined Grant Koontz and Anders Johnson alongside 19-year-old Ashlin Barry, who delivered the Americans’ best individual pursuit result by finishing fifth in 4:02.304. Barry arrived in China fresh from winning the under-23 road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Montréal.