Taylor Finney, the 29-year-old American rider who wore the Giro d'Italia maglia rosa in 2012 but suffered a career-altering injury in 2014, is retiring from professional cycling.

Neither the EF Education First rider nor his team confirmed his retirement, but Finney's longtime friend and sports nutritionist Allen Lim of Boulder, Colorado, posted an update on Instagram, thanking Finney "for all the miles." Several former professionals and industry insiders congratulated Finney on his decision.

"Good luck TP!" wrote Dejan Smaic, a Colorado-based cycling photographer and Cycling News contributor, "You'll get somewhere great.

Former pro Craig Lewis wrote, "The best miles are in your head." Tim Johnson, a former road and cyclocross pro who now works for USA Cycling, simply commented. Mountain biker Rebecca Rusch typed, "Evolution."

Rumors of Finney's impending retirement had been circulating in the peloton since late summer. Finney's last UCI race was the RideLondon Classic in early August. His previous appearance was at the Tour of California in May, where he failed to cut time on stage 5 in Ventura.

Emails, texts, and phone calls to EF Education First, team manager Jonathan Vaughters, and Finney were not immediately returned Wednesday morning, but the team later confirmed Finney's retirement after the Japan Cup on October 20.

Taylor Finney, the son of 1984 Olympic road race champion Connie Carpenter Finney and 7-Eleven sprint legend Davis Finney, began track racing as a junior and won the 2009 and 2010 individual p He won world championship titles in the individual pursuit in 2009 and 2010.

On the road, he joined the Trek-Livestrong development team led by Axel Merckx in 2009 and quickly rose through the ranks, winning the U23 Paris-Roubaix in 2009 and 2010. 2011 he competed in the World Tour with BMC Racing, and the 2012 He established himself as a top time triallist, winning the prologue of the Giro d'Italia and wearing the pink leader's jersey for three days.

Finney won 10 BMC races from 2011 to 2014 and also won the 2014 U.S. time trial title. However, a few days later in the U.S. professional road race, he was forced to change his line to avoid an official's bike on a downhill corner and crashed hard into a roadside barrier. Finney suffered a compound fracture of the tibia and a torn patellar tendon.

Finney took 14 months to recover from his injuries, but returned to racing in August 2015 and soon confirmed his comeback by winning a stage at the USA Pro Challenge in Colorado. In the next four seasons, however, he only managed one more win, winning the U.S. time trial title in 2016.

Finney again showed signs of brilliance last season, finishing eighth in Paris-Roubaix, but his 2019 performance once again lacked the potential he showed early in his career.