Adam Rafferty (Hagens Berman Jayco) has made his return to international, after a long break for A Levels, and has impressed in his comeback European race in Italy.
The 18-year-old, who won the Irish U23 TT crown at the National Road Championships in Limerick last month, had not competed since April before taking that title win. And now he has begun the second portion of his season proper, starting with the five-stage Giro Ciclistico della Valle d’Aosta-Mont Blanc (2.2U).
The opening stage yesterday of what is one of the most prestigious U23 races in the world – and won by the Irish rider’s brother, Darren Rafferty, last year began with a short, but very sharp, 40.8km opening stage from Saint Gervais Mont Blanc to Passy-Plaine Joux.
Though a breakaway managed to take a gap in the early part of the stage, the battle for the victory, and time gains, always looked set to come down to the last climb to the line; the 10.6km ascent of Passy-Plaine Joux, averaging six per cent.
Ilkhan Dostiyev (22), of Astana Qazaqstan Development Team, rode away from the rest on the slopes towards the finish line to take an impressive win, by 12 seconds, from Rafferty’s 22-year-old Australian team mate, Alastair Mackellar, and 3rd placed Ludovico Crescioli, a 20-year-old Italian riding for (Team Technipes Emilia Romagna).
Rafferty focused on following for as long as he could on the final climb, only losing ground on the upper slopes when the remains of the peloton split to pieces. He eventually finished in 23rd, at 1:04, of 130 starters; a very solid climbing performance.
The race continues today with a 127.8km stage from Verrès to Borgofranco d’Ivrea. Though it features three cat 2 climbs, the final 28km is either downhill or flat, meaning the damage may not be as considerable as it was today.
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