Davis Phinney (born July 10, 1959) is a retired professional

road bicycle racer Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most com ...

from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He won 328 races in the 1980s and 1990s, a record for an American, including two

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...

stages. He has worked in media since retiring as a professional cyclist. He was diagnosed with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor system, motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become ...

at age 40.

Career

Racing cyclist

He was a brazen sprinter and a star of the

7-Eleven Cycling Team The 7-Eleven Cycling Team, later the Motorola Cycling Team, was a professional cycling team founded in the U.S. in 1981 by Jim Ochowicz, a former U.S. Olympic cyclist. The team lasted 16 years, under the sponsorship of 7-Eleven through 1990 and t ...

in the 1980s and early '90s, and is the leader in race victories by an American, with 328. In 1986, he became the second American to win a stage at the

, while riding for American-based 7-Eleven. His racing career spanned two decades and included two stage victories in the Tour de France, a United States National Road Race Championships title, and the 1984 Olympic Bronze Medal in the Men's 100 km Team Time Trial along with Ron Kiefel, Roy Knickman, and Andrew Weaver. Aside from

Greg LeMond Gregory James LeMond (born June 26, 1961) is an American former Road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France thrice and the UCI Road World Championships – Men's road race, Road Race World Championship twice, becoming t ...

, Phinney is the only American rider to make a legitimate run at winning the

Green Jersey In road bicycle racing (e.g. Grand Tour stage races), the green jersey is a distinctive racing jersey worn by the most consistent highest finisher in the competition. While the overall race leader in the Tour de France will wear the yellow je ...

in the Tour de France. LeMond and he are the only two American riders to come in the top three of this classification. Phinney finished second in the points classification during the 1988 Tour de France.

Career after racing

Since retiring from cycling, Phinney has remained active as a cycling sports commentator, public speaker, journalist, and avid Nordic ski racer.

Family

He is married to champion cyclist Connie Carpenter-Phinney, with whom he has two children,

Taylor Taylor, Taylors or Taylor's may refer to: People * Taylor (surname) ** List of people with surname Taylor * Taylor (given name), including Tayla and Taylah * Taylor sept, a branch of Scottish clan Cameron * Justice Taylor (disambiguation) ...

and Kelsey. On August 9, 2007, Taylor became the Junior World Time Trial champion at the 2007 UCI Junior World Road and Track Championships held in Aguascalientes, Mexico, and on September 29, 2010, he became the 2010 UCI Under 23 World Time Trial champion.

Parkinson's disease

Phinney was diagnosed with

at age 40, and established the Davis Phinney Foundation in 2004, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. As Taylor was about to go to the Beijing Olympics late in 2008, Davis underwent

deep brain stimulation Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a type of neurostimulation therapy in which an implantable pulse generator is stereotactic surgery, surgically implanted subcutaneous tissue, below the skin of the chest and connected by Lead (electronics), leads ...

in an effort to control some of his symptoms. Jaimie Henderson, a neurosurgeon at Stanford University Medical Center, implanted two electrodes into either side of Phinney's brain, powered by a pacemaker in his chest. According to ESPN, the procedure was risky and not promising, but worked instantly. Phinney explained:

The doctor said, 'OK, let's try a little current now, and just like that, all these muscles that had been at war with each other suddenly were at peace. It was like Armistice Day. It was just like, 'Oh … my … god!' I looked at my wife and she was crying. She said, 'I haven't seen your smile in a year!'

By 2012, the disease was setting in again. Doctors told him the brain pacemaker could turn the clock back on the progress of Parkinson's five years. Four years after the surgery, while Phinney did not shake like he used to, his balance was severely compromised.

Major results

;1981 : Coors Classic ::1st Jersey green

Points classification ::1st Stage 6 ;1982 : 1st Jersey green

Points classification Coors Classic ;1983 : 1st Gold medal blank

Team time trial,

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

: Coors Classic ::1st Jersey green

Points classification ::1st Stages 2, 4, 5b & 9 ;1984 : 1st Stage 7 GP Tell : 1st Jersey green

Points classification Coors Classic :

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

::3rd

Team time trial A team time trial (TTT) is a road bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the clock (see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events). The winning team in a TTT is determined by the comparing the times of ...

::5th Road race ;1985 : Coors Classic ::1st Jersey green

Points classification ::1st Stages 3 & 13 : 5th Milano–Torino : 8th Overall

Étoile de Bessèges The Étoile de Bessèges () is an early-season five-day road bicycle racing stage race held annually around Bessèges, in the Gard department of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. First organized in 1971 as a one-day race, it became a ...

;1986 : 1st Stage 3

: Coors Classic ::1st Jersey green

Points classification ::1st Stages 2b, 4b & 11b ;1987 : 1st Stage 12

: 9th Overall Coors Classic ::1st Jersey green

Points classification ::1st Stage 10 ;1988 : 1st Jersey yellow

Overall Coors Classic ::1st Prologue, Stages 4b, 6a & 8 : 1st Stage 6

Tour de Romandie The Tour de Romandie is a stage race which is part of the UCI World Tour. It runs through the Romandie region, or French-speaking part of Switzerland. The competition began in 1947, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of Swiss Cycling. It ...

;1989 : 5th Overall Tour de Trump ::1st Stages 8 & 9 ;1990 : 3rd Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne ;1991 : 1st MaillotUSA

Road race, National Road Championships : 1st

Fitchburg Longsjo Classic Fitchburg Longsjo Classic, also known as the Longsjo Classic, was an annual road bicycle racing, bicycle stage race, race held in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, United States. The race began in 1960 as the Arthur M. Longsjo Jr ...

Tour DuPont The Tour DuPont was a cycling stage race in the United States held annually between 1989 and 1996, initially called the Tour de Trump in the first two years. It was intended to become a North American cycling event similar in format and prestig ...

::1st

Points classification ::1st Stage 1 ;1993 : 1st

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

References

External links

Davis Phinney Foundation

Davis Phinney: The Happiness of Pursuit
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phinney, Davis 1959 births Living people American male cyclists American cycling road race champions American Tour de France stage winners Boulder High School alumni Cyclists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in cycling People with Parkinson's disease Cycling announcers Cycling journalists Cyclists from Boulder, Colorado Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Cyclists at the 1983 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1983 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in cycling 20th-century American sportsmen