Darren Rafferty went within a handful of seconds of a medal at the cycling’s world championships on Wednesday, riding superbly in the under-23 time trial. The Dungannon rider finished fifth in the 36.2km event held in Stirling, Scotland, at one point sitting provisionally third but being bumped down two places at the end.
The Italian rider Lornezo Milesi won, beating Alec Segaert (Belgium) by 11.27 seconds and Hamish McKenzie (Australia) by 50.79. Rafferty was 56.01 seconds back, just 5.22 seconds off the bronze medal.
“[That was] not bad, I think I got everything out on the day,” he said afterwards. “A great course, nice to test myself against the best. I had a good day, everything went to plan. I just didn’t have enough legs for the medal, but nothing went wrong. I have to be happy with where I finished.”
The strength of his performance is reflected in the fact that he is just 20 years of age, younger than all bar one of those ahead of him. He is eligible to compete in the category for another two years.
No hurler on the ditch: Ronan Conway a firm believer in the promise of team development
Sonia O’Sullivan: A jog down Olympic memory lane shows how far Irish athletes have come
All Stars committee’s only obligation was to judge Kyle Hayes as a hurler
Damien Duff’s unwavering belief in Irish football has elevated the whole league
Dean Harvey also took part in the race, finishing a very solid 19th out of 78 starters. He too is eligible to compete in the category until the end of 2025.
Both riders will next compete in the under-23 road race on Saturday, joining up with Jamie Meehan, Odhrán Doogan and Aaron Wade.
“[I’ll take] a nice easy day tomorrow,” Rafferty said. “Meet up with the rest of the team and hopefully have some good legs on the circuit in Glasgow.”
Rafferty is one of the most promising under-23 riders in the sport. He recently won the prestigious Giro Ciclistico della Valle d’Aosta-Mont Blanc stage race, was second in the under-23 Giro d’Italia and was fifth in the under-23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
He has signed a multiyear contract with the EF Education-EasyPost WorldTour team, starting next January.
Also recently signed to the team is Archie Ryan, a talented 20-year-old climbing specialist. Ryan, Harvey, Meehan, Doogan, Wade and Kevin McCambridge were confirmed for the prestigious Tour de l’Avenir, which runs from August 20-27.
The team will be guided by 2013 world scratch race champion Martyn Irvine, who will act in a directeur sportif capacity. He spoke about Ryan’s return, while also expressing regret that Rafferty can’t take part.
“It’s a shame Darren Rafferty wasn’t available for selection but we look forward to welcoming Archie Ryan back from a long-term injury,” he said.
“Last year Archie had a hugely successful race, finishing fourth overall, and we’re looking forward to having him on the team once again. We have a strong team in France with four of those representing Ireland also competing at the upcoming U23 men’s road race at the UCI Cycling World Championships.”
Ryan has been sidelined this season due to injury. He will make his return to racing in the Gran Premio Sportivi di Poggiana-Trofeo Bonin Co on Saturday, a 1.2U-ranked race in northern Italy.
Finally, Aoife O’Brien impressed on Tuesday in Belgium, winning the Grand Prix Garage Scheerens in Dudzele, Bruges, in a bunch sprint. The 19-year-old is competing this year with the Spellman Dublin Port team.
Her older sister Caoimhe (Cyclingteam Belco/Van Eyck) is also riding well in Belgium, netting fourth in the Denderbelle race on Sunday.
Despite being one of the youngest riders in the field, Lara Gillespie finished an encouraging ninth overall out of 24 in the elite Omnium on Wednesday evening.
The Enniskerry rider rode strongly during the four-event race in Glasgow’s Chris Hoy velodrome, bouncing back from 14th in the opening scratch race by taking seventh in the tempo. She was then ninth in the elimination and was second and fourth in sprints in the concluding points race to move up on place to ninth overall.
Importantly, she was mixing with the big names throughout the races, showing strength and confidence which point to a promising future. Gillespie took two gold medals last month in the under-23 European Championships.
She is next due to compete in the women’s road race on Sunday, where she will be eligible for the under 23 medals. Megan Armitage and Alice Sharpe will join her on the Irish squad for that event.
Meanwhile, two of Ireland’s paracycling riders began their road campaigns on Wednesday. Allister MacSorley was 20th in the MH4 time trial, while Declan Slevin was 23rd in the MH3 event.
