Taylor Phinney Wins US National Track Title as LA Olympic Dream Moves Toward Reality

Taylor Phinney rolled back the years to win his first U.S. national track title since 2009 and move one step closer to making his Olympic dream a reality.

Phinney won the U.S. national team pursuit race Sunday along with Anders Johnson, Colby Lange, and David Domonoske.

It was the 36-year-old’s first elite track competition since he won the world pursuit title in 2010, and his first stars and stripes jersey since he won the road time trial championships in 2016.

And it’s about more than the special top for Phinney.

Sunday’s championship win marks a key stepping stone.

The Coloradan retired from a wildly successful pro road and track career in 2019 but was inspired to get back into the saddle last November.

The mission: to qualify to race team pursuit at the 2028 L.A. Games.

“What started as a return to gravel racing has delicately snowballed into a full-on Olympic dream,” Phinney wrote in April when he revealed his intention to qualify for the Games. “It’s been super fun and rewarding to find the love for training and ripping high speeds again over the past few months.

“The track was where I first found love and success in this sport. It was even the first discipline to break my heart when my specialty event, the individual pursuit, was removed from the Olympic program, which prompted me to swiftly abandon the track and go all in on the road,” he wrote.

“Recently the USA boys have been making huge strides in the team pursuit, and I couldn’t be more stoked to be joining them in the chase for the Olympic Dream.”

He’s been training on the boards ever since, and it seems to have paid off.

Phinney chases first Olympic track selection in 20 years

Racing under the moniker “Team of Dreams,” Phinney’s foursome obliterated the national TP final Sunday by catching their rivals in the 5th of 16 laps.

For Phinney, that’s a pretty good outcome after he claimed that he’d not held a time trial position “in probably seven years” until his recent comeback.

Bethany Ingram, Anna Hicks, Olivia Cummins, and Ella Sabo won the jerseys for the women’s team pursuit.

Phinney represented USA at the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Olympic Games, but only once on the track.

That one time Phinney hit the Olympic boards? When he rocketed to seventh in the 2008 individual pursuit as a debuting 18-year-old.

He just made a good case to USA Cycling’s selection panel for his return, a full 20 years later.

Full results for the 2026 U.S. national track championships can be found here.