Taylor Phinney still wants an Olympic cycling gold medal in 2012. Having his specialty event taken off the program for the London Games only made that desire stronger.

The news Phinney dreaded for weeks finally arrived Thursday when, as expected, the International Olympic Committee approved changes that cycling's worldwide governing body recommended for the London Games. Among those off the Olympic lineup is individual pursuit, the event in which Phinney is the reigning world champion.

"It's too bad," Phinney told The Associated Press. "There are a lot of people out there feeling sorry for me, so I want to change my focus and redeem myself and win that gold medal for them in something else."

His best chance could be in the newly added omnium, an multi-pronged event that involves a 3-kilometer individual pursuit, 200-meter sprint, 1-kilometer time trial, 15-kilometer points race and 5-kilometer scratch race. Still unclear, though, is whether the entire omnium will be held on the same day or stretched out over multiple days, which most cyclists likely would prefer.

"The thing about today is, fortunately it wasn't a surprise," Phinney said. "We've had ample time to think about this decision and fight this decision. But it definitely is a disappointing day. There were little gleams of hope every once in a while, but the decision is the decision. When I think about it, it's a weight off my chest. I'm not waiting for this day to come anymore. It's passed. I can move on."

Besides eliminating pursuit for men and women, the IOC also accepted the International Cycling Union's plan to cut the men's and women's points races and men's madison from the Olympics.

Individual sprints, team sprints, a team pursuit, the omnium and the keirin will be offered for both men and women at the London Games, instead of the seven-for-men, three-for-women split at Beijing.

"I wasn't surprised," said Phinney's mother, 1984 Olympic gold medalist Connie Carpenter-Phinney. "Just really disappointed."

Taylor Phinney has been tagged as the heir apparent to the U.S. cycling throne for years, in part because of his rapid ascent in pursuit. He tried pursuit for the first time at age 17. It's an iconic event in track cycling, where two racers line up on opposite sides of the banked track known as a velodrome and spend the next 3,000 to 4,000 kilometers pedaling as hard as they can in an effort to catch the other.

Less than a year later, he finished seventh in the Beijing Olympics.

Less than a year after that, he was the world champion.