Darren Rafferty ‘can’t really believe’ Giro Next Gen runner-up finish

Travelling back home after a best-ever Irish result of second overall in the Under-23 Giro d’Italia, Darren Rafferty will be one of the top names competing in the Irish time trial championships on Thursday.

Rafferty showed superb form with his performances in the Giro Next Gen, taking third on the famous summit finish of Passo dello Stelvio and ending the eight-day race just 47 seconds behind the overall winner Johannes Staune-Mittet (Jumbo-Visma Development Team).

“Unbelievable week with the team,” he said after the race. “I can’t really believe I’ve managed to come away with a podium overall and Jan could take a stage win on an emotional day. It wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible work of Kasper, Antonio, Artem and all the staff throughout this week, so a huge thanks to them.”

Rafferty won the Under-23 time trial title 12 months ago, beating Kevin McCambridge (Trinity Racing) by 23 seconds. When compared to the elite riders, his time was fourth quickest overall on the day.

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His superb Giro Next Gen form should translate into a very fast performance on what is home soil in Dungannon. It should also see him as one of the big contenders in the Elite and Under-23 road race championships on Sunday.

The favourite for the elite time trial will be defending champion Ben Healy (EF Education-Easypost), who last month impressed in the Giro d’Italia, his first Grand Tour. He won stage eight, was second on stage 15 and finished third overall in the King of the Mountains classification.

Last year Healy beat George Peden (Team PB Performance) and Eddie Dunbar (Ineos Grenadiers) by one minute 32 seconds. Peden is set to line out once again, with Bora-hansgrohe professional Ryan Mullen travelling to the race this year and hoping to add to his past victories in the competition. Marcus Christie (Banbridge CC) will also hope to be in the medals.

Three time winner Kelly Murphy (Awol-Oshea) will be one of the big favourites for the women’s time trial. Last year she beat Joanna Patterson (Wahoo Le Col) for gold, and that duel will be renewed once again this time around. Mia Griffin (Israel Premier Tech Roland) and Imogen Cotter (Fenix-Deceuninck) will also be among the contenders, as will Eve McCrystal (Bellurgan Wheelers).

Rafferty’s brother Adam will be one of those to watch in the junior men’s race, as will Seth Dunwoody. Last Thursday they finished fourth and third-quickest respectively among senior riders in the Ernie Magwood TT series race, both just one second off the junior national 10 mile time trial record of 18 minutes 48 seconds set by Darren Rafferty in July 2021. Senior rider Christie won Thursday’s event.

Defending champion Shauna Finn (Arcane Cycling Team) is aiming for a second gold in the junior women’s time trial, and will come up against riders such as Aine Doherty (VC Glendale) and Lucy Benezet Minns (Tofauti Everyone Active).

The paracycling time trial championships will also take place on Thursday, with European C4 TT champion Ronan Grimes (Orwell Wheelers) likely to ride very strongly. Ditto for Declan Selvin (Rosemount CC), the reigning champion in the H1-5 handcycle category.

Organised by Island Wheelers, the championships will be 31.2km in length and feature 337 metres in elevation. The race concludes with a one kilometre drag to the finish.

The action starts at 6.30pm on Thursday evening. The road races will follow on Saturday and Sunday.

Meanwhile, Megan Armitage is 85th overall after three stages of the Tour de Suisse Women. The Arkéa Pro Cycling Team rider was 55th and 57th on the opening two stages, then 90th on Monday’s third stage to Ebnat-Kappel.

She had finished 13th overall in the recent Internationale Lotto Thüringen Ladies Tour and had hoped for a strong showing in Switzerland.

Her team said on Monday afternoon that it had no concerns that the race had been a little quieter than she had anticipated. “Everything is fine for Megan. No problem,” a team spokesperson told The Irish Times.

The race concludes on Tuesday with a hilly 100.8 kilometre stage starting and finishing in Ebnat-Kappel.