Taylor Phinney makes USA Cycling squad for Track Worlds

Taylor Phinney has taken a significant step in his comeback by earning a place on the USA Cycling track team for the upcoming 2026 UCI Track World Championships in Shanghai, China. The announcement regarding the endurance and sprint squads occurred on Thursday, October 1, 2026. Phinney, who came out of retirement in April, joins the team pursuit squad alongside newly crowned U23 road race World Champion Ashlin Barry, Graeme Frislie, Grand Koontz, and Anders Johnson. The remainder of the US men's endurance team consists of the 2025 Points Race silver medallist, Peter Moore, and Brendan Rhim. There will be no male representation in the sprint events.

The UCI Track World Championships are scheduled to run from Wednesday, October 14, to Sunday, October 18, 2026. This championship marks Phinney's first return to international track competition since he made a comeback at the US Track National Championships in August. During that event, he secured gold in the team pursuit, partnering with Johnson, Colby Lange, and David Domonosky, which was significant as it was his first competitive appearance since 2008 at the age of 18.

Phinney is a two-time World Champion in the track discipline, having won gold in the Individual Pursuit in Pruszków in 2009 and Ballerup in 2010. He also competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics on the track, finishing seventh as a teenager. After retiring from road racing in 2019, he had spent the last two seasons racing gravel events, including Unbound Gravel in Kansas in June 2026.

The US team will also see strong female representation at the World Championships, with notable cyclist Kristen Faulkner, a former Olympic road race champion and the reigning Olympic team pursuit gold medallist, included in the roster. Following her 19th place finish at the road Worlds in Montreal, Faulkner will be joined by 18-year-old Emma Jimenez Palos, Bethany Ingram, Megan Jastrab, Stephanie Lawrence, and Anna Hicks for the endurance events. The trio of Kayla Hankins, Emily Hayes, and Hayley Yoslov, who achieved the USA's best-ever result of seventh in the women's team sprint in Chile last season, will also return to the competition in Shanghai, alongside McKenna McKee to participate in the team event and individual sprints.