18-year-old Magnus Sheffield shaved more than three seconds off the junior world record in the 3km individual pursuit on November 19 and now has his sights set on European domination.

The UCI Hour Record is a long-term goal, but with the track world championships coming up in 2020 and a two-year contract with Rally Cycling already in place, Sheffield is ready to make his mark.

The day after clocking 3:06.447 in the 3,000m run on the Olympic track in Colorado Springs, the young American spoke to Cycling News about his record-breaking time and why he chose to focus on his goals over the winter.

"I'm pretty tired. Because I've been living at the Olympic Center for the last four months. So I haven't slept much and I've been coughing a lot," Sheffield told Cycling News by phone.

"The planning started about a year ago and was finalized when the junior world championships were cancelled. I talked to my coaches and we came up with a plan on how to proceed. I had trained very hard this past year and I wanted to leave something behind that would allow me to reflect on this season. I've been training so hard this year that when the World Championships were cancelled right before the event, I was incredibly disappointed."

The last American to hold the junior 3km record was Taylor Finney, and Sheffield credited the retired athlete with being an inspiration.

"Taylor was an incredible rider and the pinnacle of American cycling for riders 10 years ago. He was one of the first riders to win a stage at the Giro after coming through the Bontrager team. I was 10 seconds faster than him, but technology has changed so much and it shows where American cycling is headed and how competitive up-and-coming riders can be.

"Three months ago, if you had asked me how many seconds I could do, I would have said I might barely be able to get under Finney's record. But after many simulations in training, I beat Finney's time by one second. I was still working on technique and pacing strategy.

With a 3km record, this future rally rider hopes to be on par with the elite athletes on the track in the future, and the 4km record currently held by Filippo Ganna (4:01.934) of Ineos could also be a target. Like Finney, Ganna is an inspiration to Sheffield.

"I felt like this was something I could do, even though I had no real experience. But it was something I was really interested in. It meant thinking outside the box, but now that I've done it, I really want to keep on the circuit, I want to focus on 4K, and later in my career I want to go for the hour record."

"Another person I look up to is Ganna. Because you can see what he does on the track and what he is winning in the Grand Tours now. He weighs 80 kilograms, so to see him win a stage in the Giro with over 5,000 meters of climbing is very inspiring for a guy like me. So I really think the time I spent on the track was money in the bank, especially in terms of the coaches I worked with and the experience I gained. Gary Sutton was a huge help. I was training with the women's team Pursuit team, and obviously Chloe Dygert wasn't there, but I got to train with all of her teammates. It was a really unique experience and I really enjoyed it. "

Sheffield, who signed a two-year contract with Rally Cycling before his record attempt, will head to Europe in the New Year to mix his track plans with his road ambitions. He has never been away from the U.S. for more than a few months before, but the postponement of his schooling for a season has given the 18-year-old the opportunity to immerse himself in a new culture and gain experience from the athletes around him.

"My plan is to take a year off from school and really focus on cycling for the next year. I plan to move to Europe full time and settle in there with a new team. Larry is very supportive on the track side and many of the girls on the team are also involved in the track program.

"I'm going to Girona. I've never been to Girona, but I'll be living with an old teammate, moving there in January or February and doing some 1.1 and 2.1 races. Then I'll run the U23 cobblestone classic, and after that I can race anywhere depending on the rally I want to get some experience in 2.HC stage races, but I have to see how COVID goes... There's also the Nations Cup in England in April, and I'd like to do the 4km Pursuit there!

"I'm looking forward to the COVID stage.

"After that, my biggest goal is the World Championships in Flanders. I'm looking forward to doing very well in the elite class."

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