27-year-old American whose career nearly ended in a brutal crash is suddenly a star in his first Tour de France

LIEGE, Belgium - To get a jump on his career, Taylor Phinney picked the right parents.

His mother, Connie Carpenter, won the first women's Olympic road race, at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. His father, Davis Phinney, is a former multi-time US champion cyclist and the second American to win a stage of the Tour de France, in 1987 with the famed American 7-Eleven team.

Taylor inherited their great genes and put them to good use. In his teens he started racing bikes seriously and won several world titles on the track before landing on an under-23 road team and competing in North America's biggest races. Eventually he landed a lucrative pro contract with the BMC team.

Then in a matter of seconds the fairy tale came to a violent end.

In the 2014 US championship road race, Phinney crashed hard into guardrail while trying to avoid hitting a race motorcycle. It was a scary moment for the rising star of American cycling: He had suffered a compound fracture in his let tibia and a severed patellar tendon. He would spend the next year out of action and then two more years trying to overcome his injuries and strengthen a significantly weaker left leg.

Thirty-eight months - and multiple operations and physical-therapy sessions later - Phinney is now riding his first Tour de France, pro cycling's biggest stage, and he immediately found success.

Here's a quick look at how one of the most talented American cyclists came back from near-career-ending injury to become a star at the world's greatest race.