Standout US cyclist Taylor Phinney will make his professional debut for the RadioShack team of Lance Armstrong at the Tour of Denmark from August 4-8, the team has confirmed on Thursday.

The 20-year-old Phinney, son of two former Olympic medalists Davis Phinney and Connie Carpenter, won the last two world pursuit titles.

New Zealand’s Jesse Sergent, 22, Phinney’s rival in the pursuit final at the world track championships in Copenhagen last March, will also debut for the team in Denmark along with compatriot Clinton Avery.

Taylor Phinney (Boulder, CO, June 27th, 1990) is the reigning elite world champion in pursuit. In Copenhagen he repeated his title of 2009. He is also the two-time winner of Paris-Roubaix U23 (2009, 2010). This season he was impressive in the Olympia’s Tour in Holland with the overall classification and four stage wins.

“All three riders are classy young riders. They have a lot of potential,” commented Sports Team manager Johan Bruyneel.
“We believe in them and are hoping this works out and can lead to something permanent next year. So far none of the three riders has a guaranteed place in our 2011 team but this is already a step forward in their development as a pro-rider. In the mean time we work further on the future of Team RadioShack. We are currently negotiating with other potential future riders for our 2011 team.”

The three stagiaires will start in the Tour of Denmark (August 4th-8th). They will get other race opportunities in the Tour du Poitou-Charentes (August 24th-27th), the Classic de l’Indre (August 29th), the Grand Prix Jef Scherens/Leuven (September 5th), the Memorial Van Steenbergen/Aartselaar (September 8th), Paris-Brussels (September 11th), the Grand Prix Fourmies (September 12th), the Grand Prix de Wallonie (September 15th), Koolskamp (September 17th) and the Grand Prix Isbergues (September 19th).

“All of these one-day races are part of the replacement program we had to put in place after we were told we’re not welcome in this year’s Tour of Spain,” continued Bruyneel. “I hope that our victory in the Teams Classification in the Tour de France may be an answer to the organizers of the Vuelta. It feels bitter: the best Team in the World’s hardest race not being invited to participate at the Vuelta. ‘Other teams offered us better options on a sporting level,’ they said to us. We disagree.”