Adam Rafferty, leading, riding for the Jayco AlUla World Tour team at Coppi e Bartali last year and now the call-up to the top team has come a bit earlier for the Irish 20-year-old (Photo: Massimo Fulgenzi)
Adam Rafferty, who is riding this year for the Hagens Berman Jayco U23 this year, is set to upgrade to the Jayco AlUla World Tour squad for his next races.
The 20-year-old from Co Tyrone wrapped up the Tour of Rhodes (UCI 2.2) yesterday, Sunday, with 2nd place on the queen stage, after almost 3,000m of climbing.
That secured 2nd place overall, and 2nd in the young riders’ classification, both won by Italian Matteo Scalco (XDS Astana Development Team), who also won the final stage on Sunday.
And though the four-stage race in Greece was a demanding one, featuring many of the World Tour teams’ U23 squads, Rafferty will not get much time to rest on his laurels.
Indeed, he was set to leave Greece early on Monday and fly to Italy to join up with the World Tour team for Milano-Torino (1.Pro) on Wednesday. The one-day race is 174km and finishes in Turn with two ascents of the brutal Superga climb.
Once he gets that race under his belt, his first appearance for the World Tour team this year, he will go on to race again with the team at Italian stage race Coppi e Bartali (2.1).
The five-stage race gets underway on Wednesday week, March 25th. Rafferty has the benefit of going into that encounter knowing what is in store as he made his debut for the Jayco AlUla World Tour team there last year.
He later went on, last year, to ride for the World Tour team twice more, at the Giro della Toscana (1.1) one-day race in Italy in September and the Tour de Slovaquie (2.1) the following week.
The Irish rider’s call up to the World Tour team is no surprise and follows the pattern, which began last year, of him being gradually eased into the pro ranks. It is, however, a strong vote of confidence in his progress and his current form.
Rafferty is among several Irish riders now competing with U23 development teams with official links to World Tour teams; those U23 squads usually having some of the same sponsors.
Riders on the U23 teams are permitted, under UCI rules, to be step up to their World Tour ‘parent’ teams for any race during the season except World Tour events.
As well as Rafferty, first-U23 Irish rider David Gaffney is also with Hagens Berman Jayco this year. Liam O’Brien rides for Lidl Trek-Future Racing and Seth Dunwoody is competing with Bahrain Victorious Development Team, both of whom have already ridden for their World Tour ‘parent’ teams this year.
Patrick Casey, the former Irish junior road race champion, and bronze medal winner in the elite road race at the National Road Championships last year, is riding for NSN Development Team,. It is linked to the World Tour NSN team, which Ryan Mullen rides for.