Talansky competed in cross-country running at high school in Florida before taking up competitive cycling at age 17.

He left college after one year to join the Amore & Vita–McDonald's team in Italy in 2009, but found the conditions unsatisfactory and returned to the US that spring.

[5] Later in the season he was named Garmin's lead rider for the Vuelta a España,[6] finishing seventh in the general classification.

He won the 2014 Critérium du Dauphiné, joining a high-quality breakaway group on the final stage to overcome a 39-second deficit to overnight race leader Alberto Contador.

He permanently retired from professional endurance sport at the end of the 2019 season after competing in his final Ironman in Chattanooga, TN.