Adam Rafferty on his way to victory on stage 5, to Gavi, at Giro Next Gen and now he stays with his team of the past two seasons and is joined by young gun, David Gaffney (Photo: Fabio Ferrari)

Adam Rafferty is to stay with the Hagens Berman Jayco next year, spending his third season at the U23 feeder squad of World Tour outfit Team Jayco Alula, which he was called up to several times in 2025.

And joining the 20-year-old from Co Tyrone will be Waterford’s David Gaffney, who is stepping up from the junior ranks to the U23 peloton and already securing a berth at one of the top development teams in the sport.

It means the Axel Merckx-run team now counts two of Ireland’s three medallists from the European Road Championships this season in France among its 2026 roster. Rafferty won bronze in the U23 TT in France in October while Gaffney won bronze in the junior road race, which was Ireland’s first road race medal ever at a Europeans.

Gaffney, who has raced with Dungarvan CC at home and with Team 31 Specialized in France over the past few seasons, becomes only the fourth Irish rider to secure a place with Hagens Berman Jayco since it was founded, as Trek-Livestrong, way back in 2009.

Two-time Grand Tour stage winner, Eddie Dunbar, was on the team in 2016 and 2017 while Darren Rafferty rode for the team in 2022 and 2023, followed by his brother, Adam Rafferty, for the past two season, with Gaffney now joining him.

David Gaffney celebrates his bronze medal in the junior men’s road race at the European Road Championships in France in October (Photo: Sean Rowe)

After the Europeans, Rafferty told stickybottle he was focused on continuing to develop as a rider in the U23 ranks and was in no particular hurry to step up to the World Tour.

He claimed a stage win at Giro Next Gen this year, with a solo move away from the breakaway on stage 5 to Gavi, which he followed up with victory in the U23 TT at the National Road Championships in Co Westmeath in June, followed by his Europeans medal win in October.

As Hagens Berman Jayco is the official feed team for Team Jayco Alula, both Rafferty and Gaffney will be eligible to be called up to ride for the World Tour line-up in any race next season, apart from World Tour events.

This year, Rafferty got that call-up for three races; Coppi e Bartali (2.1),  Giro della Toscana (1.1) and Tour de Slovaquie (2.1). That facility will give the Irish riders the best of both worlds in that they are free to continue their development on the U23 scene while also getting the opportunity to ride for the World Tour line-up.

Last season was Rafferty’s first as a full-time bike rider as he completed his exams the previous year and it was clear to see he had made significant progress, riding very strongly from the start of the campaign, when he was 5th overall at Tour of Rhodes (2.2).

Gaffney now makes a similar transition in 2026, which will be his first as a full-time rider as he faced the Leaving Cert earlier this year, though managed to absorb that and still find the form to medal at the Europeans.

He will look to become acclimatised quickly to U23 international racing this season, having accrued lots of experience in the European peloton as a junior. For Rafferty, the season will be all focused on putting in bigger performances towards a pro contract when the time is right.