Irish riders had a fine showing on day three of the UCI road world championships in Zürich on Monday, with Seth Dunwoody fifth in the junior men’s time trial and Darren Rafferty sixth in the Under 23 race.
Dunwoody continued the fine form he has shown this year to finish 24 seconds off race winner Paul Seixas (France), and 17 seconds off a podium place. Compatriot Conor Murphy was 10th, a fine performance for a first year junior.
“I managed to squeeze everything out of my legs today,” said Dunwoody. “Although not as much as I had expected but I can still be proud of this result. It’s my first major time trial championship and I hope to be at many more fighting for medals.”
Rafferty finished fifth in the under 23 TT last year and, having turned professional with EF Education-EasyPost this season, hoped to build on that. However he found he was lacking a little zip in the race, quite possibly as a result of riding the Vuelta a España at 21 years of age.
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“It has been a long season and I have done a lot of races. It is nice to be able to come here, represent Ireland and give it my best. Unfortunately it was not enough, but it is always nice and there is another opportunity on Friday,” he said, speaking about the road race.
Brother Adam had a fine performance in his first year as an under 23, netting 10th. Spanish rider Iván Romeo won.
The world championships continues on Tuesday with the junior women’s time trial. Sister Aliyah Rafferty and Lucy Bénézet Minns will represent Ireland. The latter was fourth last year.
