Adam Rafferty and Seth Dunwoody secure top-five finishes in junior Chrono des Nations time trial

Irish riders Adam Rafferty and Seth Dunwoody had fine performances in the junior Chrono des Nations time trial on Sunday, finishing third and fifth in the 27.23km individual test.

Rafferty improved on his sixth place of last year, finishing just nine seconds behind the Italian winner Davide Donati (Ciclistica Trevigliese) and eight off the time of the Briton Finlay Tarling (Willebrord Wil Vooruit).

The Team 31 Jolly Cycles is the Irish junior champion and placed fifth in the world championships in August.

His elder brother Darren was second as a junior back in 2021, and has gone on to become one of the most exciting under 23 riders in the sport.

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Adam is following in his wheeltracks next season, joining the same Hagens Berman Axeon development team that guided Darren for the past two seasons.

Dunwoody is the junior national road race champion and will take great encouragement from Sunday’s result. The Cannibal-Victorious rider won the 2.1-ranked Penn Ar Bed – Pays d’Iroise event in April and is clearly ending the year in fine form.

He has another year in the junior ranks in 2024 and also seems set for a big future.

Meanwhile, the Belgian Jente Michels and the Briton Anna Kay were best of the elite men and women at the UCI-ranked Verge Cross Clonmel cyclocross event on Sunday.

Michels finished well clear of his rivals in the Powerstown Race course event, 2′12 and 3′03 respectively ahead of Britons Joe Coukham and Jenson Young. Ireland’s Dean Harvey was fourth, with Darnell Moore sixth.

Kay was similarly dominant in the women’s contest, beating Aine Doherty by 2′27 to repeat her win of last year. Another Irishwoman Roisin Lally was third, a further 24 seconds behind. Aliyah Rafferty and Darcey Harkness completed the top five.

Joseph Mullen was second in the junior men’s event, 10 seconds off the winning pace of the Briton Joel Hurt.

Third went to the British rider Matthew Bell, with Irishmen David Gaffney and Michael Collins fourth and fifth.

The race is ranked C2 on the UCI calendar, making it one of only two Irish international cyclocross races with world ranking status.

A World Cup round will follow in Dublin on November 26th, behind held on the Sport Ireland campus.