Boy, this Taylor Phinney dude is irritating

[Mr. Pink]

He's trying to do that chill hipster stoner dude, but, really, you're a bike racer. Stop it. Start winning.

[stephenmarklay]

Well, I don’t want be a d*ck but coming from where he has been, doing what he is doing is a miracle. If you don’t like him don’t watch him.

[MattTuck]

yeah, god forbid they expose their personalities. Just get on your bike and ride.

You're aware he was US TT champion for a year and was never able to wear the jersey because of a career altering injury, right? and he's still doing rehab and has only regained 75% of his left leg peak power. Dude weighs 190 pounds.

[berserk87]

He looks fairly exhausted during his TDF vids. Sometimes he's trying hard to be funny and is not.

Sometimes he is pretty darned funny. A reporter asked if he thought that the yellow jersey was within reach for Cannondale, since Uran is high up on GC. He kind of laughed, and paused and said that he feels that it is really in reach when he rides up next to Chris Froome, and can just reach out and touch it.

The reporter didn't seem to know what to say next.

I guess I can be more critical of his inaugural TDF performance after I ride a race if a few more grand tours myself.

I like the videos. They are not always hilarious, but no big deal. Mind you that we watch for entertainment, and it's a choice to do so.

What I find irritating are the endless parade of the same Geico, Progressive and Jeep commercials. Recording the stages on DVR solves this, but I can't always do it.

[MagicHour]

Yeah I'll take Hannah and her Horse any day over "WORK HARD, PLAY HARD" "Free, free, set me free" and "recalculating route" bouncing around in my brain for the rest of the day.

Originally Posted by berserk87

What I find irritating are the endless parade of the same Geico, Progressive and Jeep commercials. Recording the stages on DVR solves this, but I can't always do it.

[Ralph]

My whole family really enjoys the NBC Sports coverage of the race. We record it in the AM, and watch it later in day. We just fast forward thru the commercials.

Sure it's long, and sure the announcers run out of things to talk about....and say some dumb things....but no matter....we really enjoy the scenery, the buildings, the villages, the culture that you can see on the video, how locals live, their pastures, how most people lining the road seem thinner than Americans (a big topic in our family), and oh yes.....the occasional head to head racing.

We try to figure out what kind of gearing is being used....sometimes the announcers will say. We like to see the equipment. How many bottles they carry, stuff like that. Notice a bunch of derailleur issues due to dead batteries. Just too many bikes to keep maintained we figure.

[otis]

Not his fault they picked him to be the McConaughey of the peleoton this year, but like Zabreski and others before, he is a total bore. It's TV Jake.....

[Big Dan]

Tough crowd.

Remember back in the day........ 30 minutes on ESPN.

If they had time.

[Michael Maddox]

He's VERY pleasant in person. He's also VERY tired and very focused on the race. Cut him some slack.

[Climb01742]

It's all personal and subjective, but Taylor's videos are a real highlight for me. Sure, he isn't everyone's taste, but I think it's genuine, it's who he is. Good for him.

[daker13]

I like him. 1000x than the more regular square jawed American type.

[FlashUNC]

Anything he does on the bike these days is gravy after all he's gone through with that Nats crash and injury.

Guy's got other interests, and can see a life after bike racing. Lot of guys in the pro peloton should be so lucky.

[mktng]

He brings something different to the scene.
Its sort of like Sagan for me. Its just different. A good different.

[RobJ]

So we would rather have some other dude with short, one word answers during his interview? A little bit of insight into what's going on behind the scenes is good and I like the way he does it. To have that sense of humor doing what these guys are doing day in and day out and the team definitely feeds off him. It doesn't have to be all business.

[93legendti]

I saw his segment today, the first one I have seen. I was entertained. Not easy to be interviewed/talk on TV while you're working.