Phillip "Phil" Gaimon is a former American professional road racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2009 and 2016. He began his racing career while attending the University of Florida and competed in collegiate races as part of the University's Cycling Club. As a professional, Gaimon rode for,,, and. A noted blogger, Gaimon has written for VeloNews; he formerly posted at Bicycling, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated.
Career
Born in Columbus, Ohio, United States, Gaimon spent his adolescence in Tucker, Georgia, United States. Gaimon resides in the Toluca Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. After five seasons competing domestically with the, and teams, Gaimon signed with the squad for the 2014 season. Gaimon won his very first race with his new team, stage 1 of the 2014 Tour de San Luis, and managed to hold on throughout the race to finish second overall, behind Nairo Quintana, who claimed the leader's jersey during an individual time trial. Gaimon went back to the American scene in 2015, riding for on a one-year contract. After riding the 2015 season at UCI Continental level, Gaimon announced he would be returning to the World Tour with for 2016. Gaimon announced his retirement at the end of 2016. In June of 2019, while training for the 2020 Olympics in the Team Pursuit, Gaimon suffered a serious crash breaking his collarbone, scapula, 5 ribs, and partially collapsing a lung. Gaimon began authoring books during his professional career, including Pro Cycling on $10 a Day: From Fat Kid to Euro Pro, which was released in 2014 by VeloPress. He continued writing in retirement, including 2017's Ask a Pro: Deep Thoughts and Unreliable Advice from America's Foremost Cycling Sage and Draft Animals: Living the Pro Cycling Dream released by Penguin Books. Gaimon also hosts a weekly podcast called The Peloton Brief and an annual charity event ride in Simi Valley, California called Phil's Cookie Fondo. Gaimon is vocal about performing without performance enhancing drugs, and commissioned a tattoo from a tattoo artist of a bar of soap with the word "CLEAN" on his right bicep. Since retiring from participating in professional event brands, Gaimon has generated social media engagement by attempting to beat "king-of-the-mountain" records on the digital app Strava. Phil Gaimon also has created a video series called "Worst Retirement Ever" of his KOM attempts on YouTube.
