It has been an emotional few days for Taylor Phinney (BMC Racing Team), becoming the American time trial champion on Saturday, for the second time, before crashing out of the road race on Monday and suffering injuries that may spell the end of the 2014 season for the 23 year old American.
According to a BMC press release, the team's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Max Testa reports that Phinney has fractured both the tibia and fibula of his left lower leg, as well as suffering an injury to his left knee. He underwent surgery on the evening of the crash.
No recovery time table has been released but it doesn't seem like Phinney will race again this year. If it had been a clean break then he could be back on the bike within three months, and potentially racing again in September.
However the damage appears to be more severe, which is likely to spell the end of Phinney's 2014 season, forcing him to postpone making his Tour de France debut for another year. It's a shame for both rider and team; Phinney's powerful riding would have been a huge asset to Tejay van Garderen in France.
Although best known as a time trialist and classics rider, Phinney has good finishing speed and has demonstrated an increasing ability to attack and win late in stages; he did so in the Tour de Pologne last year, and repeated the trick from a little further out in the Amgen Tour of California this month.
Lucas Euser (UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team) was also taken out of the in the same incident. Euser was able to avoid serious injuries himself and was amongst the first to provide assistance to the injured Phinney. The race itself was won by Eric Marcotte of Team SmartStop, the biggest result in the team's history. While the women's race was won by Alison Powers of the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Women's Team