Darren Rafferty stays second overall heading into crucial mountain stage at Giro Next Gen

Darren Rafferty will start Saturday’s crucial penultimate stage of the Giro Next Gen poised for a high overall finish, with the Irishman sitting second in the general classification.

Rafferty (Hagens Berman Axeon) and race leader Johannes Staune-Mittet (Jumbo-Visma Development Team) finished in the main bunch on Friday’s sixth stage to Povegliano. The day was marked by an all-Italian three-man breakaway which finished two minutes 49 seconds ahead of the peloton, with Alessandro Romele (Team Colpack Ballan) best in the sprint.

Rafferty rolled in 29th, conserving energy for Saturday’s big showdown. The general classification remained the same, with no change to the order of the top 18 riders overall. The Norwegian Staune-Mittet preserves his 19 second advantage over Rafferty, while Frenchman Alexy Faure Prost (Circus-ReUz- Technord) stays a further 20 seconds behind.

Rafferty continues to lead the combination classification and stays second overall in the mountains competition.

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Saturday’s penultimate stage will likely be the big decider for the overall standings. It includes a number of climbs, including three first category ascents inside the final 70 kilometres.

The race is one of the most prestigious on the global calendar for under 23 riders.

In Canada, US-born Irishman Cormac McGeough won stage two of the Tour de Beauce late on Thursday, attacking on the final climb and finishing 20 seconds ahead of a chasing group of 13 riders.

Guesting with the EC Makadence Primeau Vélo squad, he jumped 23 places in the overall standings to take over the race lead. He headed into stage three one second clear of Canadians Matisse Julien (Team Ecoflo Chronos) and Evan Russel (Cycling BC).

Stage three finishes atop Mont Mégantic and will shape the final general classification. McGeough finished second overall in the Rás Tailteann last month. His stage win in the Tour de Beauce is the first UCI victory of the 26-year-old rider’s career.

Finally Megan Armitage takes a further step towards what will be a first-ever women’s Tour de France participation by an Irish rider when she lines out in the Tour de Suisse Women on Saturday.

Armitage has been enjoying a very strong season with her Arkéa Pro Cycling team. She won the final stage plus the overall classification in the Vuelta Extremadura Féminas in March, was fourth in the Grand Prix Féminin de Chambéry in April and third in the mountains classification in the Ceratizit Festival Elsy Jabobs that same month. More recently she was 13th overall in the prestigious Internationale Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour at the end of May.

The four day Tour de Suisse Women begins with a rolling 56-kilometre stage in Weinfelden and features a 27.5 kilometre time-trial on Sunday. The WorldTour race then concludes with two undulating stages, the hardest of which is on Tuesday.