Davis Phinney

Davis Phinney (born July 10, 1959) is a retired professional road bicycle racer from the United States. He won 328 races in the 1980s and 90s, a record for an American, including 2 Tour de France stages. He has worked in media since retiring as a racer. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease at age 40.

Davis Phinney
Davis Phinney in 1991 Thrift Drug Classic
Personal information
Full nameDavis Phinney
Nickname"Thor", The Cash Register[1]
Born (1959-07-10) July 10, 1959
Boulder, Colorado, U.S.
Team information
Current teamRetired
DisciplineRoad
RoleRider
Rider typeSprinter
Professional teams
1982–19837 Eleven – Schwinn
1984Gianni Motta – Linea
1985–19907-Eleven
1991–1993Coors Light
Major wins
Medal record
Representing the  United States
Men's road bicycle racing
Olympic Games
1984 Los Angeles Team time trial

Career

Racing cyclist

He was a brazen sprinter and a star of the 7-Eleven Cycling Team in the 1980s and early ’90s,[2] and is the leader in race victories by an American, with 328.[3][4][5][6] In 1986, he became the second American to win a stage at the Tour de France, 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.[7]

Aside from Greg LeMond Phinney is the only American rider to make a legitimate run at winning the Green Jersey in the Tour de France. He and LeMond are the only two American riders to come in the top 3 of this classification. Phinney finished 2nd in the Points Classification during the 1988 Tour de France.

Post-racing career

Since retiring from cycling, Phinney has remained active as a cycling sports commentator, public speaker, journalist, and avid Nordic ski racer.[8]

Family

He is married to champion cyclist Connie Carpenter-Phinney, with whom he has two children, Taylor and Kelsey. On Thursday, 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,[9] and on September 29, 2010, he became the 2010 UCI Under 23 World Time Trial champion.[10]

Parkinson's disease

Phinney was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease 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 in an effort to control some of his symptoms. Jaimie Henderson, a neurosurgeon at Stanford University Medical Center, implanted two electrodes 2.5 inches 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.[11] 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!'[12]

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 didn't shake like he used to, his balance was severely compromised.[13]

Major results
1981
1982
  • 1st, Points classification, Coors Classic
1983
  • 1st (Gold), Pan American Games – Team time trial
  • 1st, Points classification, Coors Classic
1984
1985
  • 1st, Points classification, Coors Classic
1986
Winner stage 3
  • 1st, Points classification, Coors Classic
1987
Winner stage 12
  • 1st, Points classification, Coors Classic
1988
1989
  • 2 stage wins, Tour de Trump
1990
1991
1993
gollark: Why?
gollark: The helloboi code.
gollark: Alternatively, use PWM: rapidly switch between ultrahyperselfesteem and whatever you do now.
gollark: Well, evaluations of people are basically ultrahypersubjective, and people often get them wrong, so you should at least be wrong in a more interesting direction.
gollark: The right one.

References
  1. Clarke, Stuart (November 5, 2015). "13 of the strangest nicknames in cycling". Cycling Weekly. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  2. Macur, Juliet (March 26, 2008). "For the Phinney Family, a Dream and a Challenge". The New York Times. Retrieved May 25, 2013. Phinney, 48, was a brazen sprinter and the star of the 7-Eleven professional cycling team in the 1980s and early ’90s. He was a risk-taker with beefy biceps, nicknamed Thor, the Norse god of thunder.
  3. Reilly, Rick (August 21, 2012). "Riding it out". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 25, 2013. Davis Phinney went on to win 328 bike races, two Tour de France stages and an Olympic bronze.
  4. Macur, Juliet (March 26, 2008). "For the Phinney Family, a Dream and a Challenge". The New York Times. Retrieved May 25, 2013. His father remains the leader in race victories by an American, with more than 300. He was the first American to win a road stage of the Tour de France. At the 1984 Olympics, he won a bronze medal in the team time trial.
  5. Phinney, Davis. "2004 Tour retrospective: Thanks for the memories". Davis Phinney's Tour Diary: A Sprinter's Tale. Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved May 25, 2013. With over 300 national and international victories in a career that spanned two decades, Davis Phinney is still the winningest cyclist in U.S. history. In 1986, he was the first American ever to win a road stage in the Tour de France; five years later, he won the coveted USPRO road title in Philadelphia.
  6. Davis Phinney Foundation
  7. "Davis Phinney Olympic Results". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved May 25, 2015.
  8. Phinney, Davis. "2004 Tour retrospective: Thanks for the memories". Davis Phinney's Tour Diary: A Sprinter's Tale. Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved May 25, 2013. In 2000, when Davis was just 40 years old, he was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson's disease. But that hasn't kept him down. Since retiring from professional cycling, Davis has been a cycling sports commentator, public speaker and journalist.
  9. "Phinney golden in Mexico". bikeradar.com. August 16, 2007.
  10. "UCI Road World Championships: Taylor Phinney wins men's under-23 time trial title". The Daily Telegraph. September 29, 2010.
  11. Reilly, Rick (August 21, 2012). "Riding it out". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 25, 2013. Finally, in 2008, as Taylor was about to go to the Beijing Olympics, Davis decided to take a literal plunge. Using deep brain stimulation, surgeons implanted two electrodes 2½ inches into either side of his brain, powered by a pacemaker in his chest. It was risky and not promising. And it instantly worked.
  12. Reilly, Rick (August 21, 2012). "Riding it out". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 25, 2013. The doctor said, 'OK, let's try a little current now," Davis remembers, "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!'
  13. Reilly, Rick (August 21, 2012). "Riding it out". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 25, 2013. Sadly, while Taylor seems to get stronger with every race, his dad has been regressing. The doctors told him the brain pacemaker could turn the clock back on the progress of Parkinson's five years. It's been four years. The disease is setting in again. He doesn't shake like he used to, but his balance is awful. When he greeted me at the door of his Boulder home, he stumbled backward and almost over.
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