Darren Rafferty has notched up arguably the best performance of his career, netting third on the toughest stage to date in this year’s Giro Next Gen and jumping from ninth to second overall.
The 19-year-old Hagens Berman Axeon rider put in a stunning ride on the famous cycling climb of the Passo dello Stelvio, proving to be one of the strongest in the race to the 2,757-metre high summit.
Wednesday’s fourth stage of the Giro Next Gen took the riders 119 kilometres from Morbegno to the top of the climb, and Rafferty remained to the fore as the gradient and altitude whittled down the list of contenders.
With seven kilometres remaining a dozen riders were still in the running for the stage win. Closer to the top this was reduced to three, namely the Norwegian Johannes Staune-Mittet (Jumbo-Visma Development Team), Frenchman Alexy Faure Prost (Circus-ReUz-Technord) and Dungannon rider Rafferty.
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Wile he finished 11 seconds behind stage winner Staune-Mittet and Faure Prost at the line, Rafferty will take great encouragement from what was a superb performance. He has limited experience of climbing in the high mountains and has clearly made a big step forward after a recent altitude camp.
He is also younger than Staune-Mittet. The Norwegian is 21 and won last year’s Ronde de l’Isard, as well as placing second overall in the prestigious Tour de l’Avenir.
“I came into this race with ambition and some really good preparation in the month of May so I knew the shape was pretty good,” Rafferty said. “But I wasn’t expecting to podium on the queen stage.”
Staune-Mittet is the new race leader, while Rafferty is 18 seconds back and is third in the King of the Mountains competition and sixth in the points ranking.
“The goal was to get a top 10 on the stage, but to take a third and move up to second on GC was a nice surprise. The boys worked hard all day to keep Jan [teammate Jan Christen] and myself well positioned into the bottom of the Stelvio and that really paid off in the end.”
The Giro Next Gen is the under-23 version of the Giro d’Italia, and one of the most important races for riders in that age group.
It continues on Thursday with a lumpy 159-kilometre race to Manerba del Garda, and will conclude on Sunday.
