Taylor Phinney hopes to be fit in time to target the 2015 Tour de France and World Championships. The 24-year-old American suffered a serious leg break during the U.S National Road Race and has been out since June.

“If everything continues to go in the trajectory it's on now, I definitely want to be racing by at least early season next year,” he said. “If I'm back by early season, I'll definitely be at worlds.”

While the Worlds and Tour are his big objectives, he hopes to be back in time for the Classics, which are his favourite races. Although with the severity of his injuries, he admits he may not be able to fulfill that goal.

“[The Classics] involve a lot of torque,” he said. “It's just hard on the body. So whether or not I'm able to come back for the Classics or have to focus on something else and keep the focus mainly on trying to make the Tour de France team and then the Worlds team, then that will be what it is. We'll make that decision in December, January or February.”

Three months on from the accident, Phinney still walks with a limp and does not have the full bend of his left knee. But he is now able to ride without any restrictions to his power.

“I did like four hours the other day,” he said. “I don't have any restrictions anymore as far as how many watts I can do. It's just my discomfort level. If I feel any pain I kind of back off. I don't do any slow cadence climbing, but I can tap it out and do some good watts on the flat. I can drop some recreational Sunday cyclists, so I'm pretty stoked about that.”

“It's not like I've been out for a couple years,” he said. “It's not like I've been on the couch, but the saying is 'jumping off the couch into a race' and still be relatively competitive, especially if I have a good solid base of training.”

For Phinney, the Worlds will be a special race as they take place in Richmond, Virginia in his homeland, America. The road race has an interesting twist, with a cobbled climb up Libby Hill and Phinney, having seen the course, says whoever wins that day will be a worthy champion.

“I'm going to pre-ride it in October,” he said. “But I have seen the profiles and stuff, and it definitely looks good for a rider of my type, for like an American classics course. So, yeah, it's going to be pretty cool. I don't think they're like Flanders cobbles or Roubaix cobbles. They're not really bad, but for sure it's a small road. It's twisty and it will cause somewhat of a selection. Maybe not the cobbles themselves, but just right afterward.”

“I think it will be an exciting finale,” he said. “I think you'll see a lot of small groups and attacks in the final little bit of the race. Hopefully a little group gets away from the main pack and kind of steals that thunder. Hopefully that involves me.”