Darren Rafferty has said his time spent with the Quick-Step
Alpha Vinyl team earlier this year was an eye opener into what it would be like,
and the kind of effort required, to reach the top in the sport.
The 18-year-old enjoyed an incredible couple of months like
year, taking win after win. He then secured a place with the Hagens Axeon Berman
team for this year but before even taking up that spot he was invited by Quick-Step
Alpha Vinyl to join it fore a pre-season training camp in Spain back in January.
“For me, that was a bit of a crazy experience; going from riding
as a junior and within the first two weeks of being U23 I was flown out to
Calpe to ride my back with a World Tour Team for 10 days,” he said.
Advertisement
“It was hard to take in that you were staying in the same hotel
as all of these riders that you see on TV. But the cycling itself was great, it
gave me great insight into what my job could become if I can get some results
and if I can show that I’m good enough to be there. It gave me motivation for
this year. I’ve lots to work on, lots to improve.
“But for sure that opportunity – and you can see the professionalism
in the team – the staff that are behind the riders, the equipment… We ate with
the team and you could see what everyone eats for breakfast, dinner – and we
trained with the squad – (you could see) the efforts they were doing.
“It was really insightful for me; going from always racing in
Ireland and then one year France and then riding with a World Tour squad on
their training camp. I learnt a lot, personally, about small things; looking
after yourself and how much effort and commitment it does take to do it, as a
job, and to be the best at it. So that was something really impressive for me,
it made me know I’d like to do this as a job if I had the ability.”
Rafferty was speaking to his coach Stephen Gallagher
and in their conversation, below, they also spoke about training and racing.
Gallagher – who runs Dig Deep coaching and is the last Irishman to win Rás
Tailteann – asked Rafferty about the biggest changes between stepping up from
domestic racing into the international peloton.
“I think the big change from junior to U23 is that a lot of the teams have riders who are putting their full focus into cycling, so everyone is already of a pretty high standard; everyone has the power to be there,” Rafferty said.
Related News
“Everyone is on a team for a reason, they haven’t just
been picked randomly. And it becomes hugely more important to focus on
positioning and bike handlining; you have to be confident in a bunch of 150 to
160 riders all constantly fighting to be at the front.”
Rafferty said the battle for position at key times
meant efforts were required to stay at the front and there was “no specific
number” in terms of power output that would keep a rider at the front.
“Everyone’s trying to get to the World Tour,
everyone wants to show what they can do,” he said of the standard through the fields
in major U23 races. “You also have team roles, and riders there to help out.
But I think positioning is without doubt the most important.
“Coming to key points of a race you need to be at
the front, otherwise even if you have the legs and you have the best numbers in
the world you won’t be able to pass 20 people on a narrow climb or you can’t sprint
from 30th place and win the race with 250 metres to go.
“So, always being in the position you need to be in
is what I’ve found most important in the last few months, since the beginning
of this year. But obviously you need to have the training in place to have the
legs and to be able to make it to the end of the race.”
Rafferty said he felt confident and “happy to move
around” in a bunch, including having to negotiate small obstacles – such as jumping
over a small kerb – or taking tricky corners safely. And he felt the skills he
had learned even from his U16 days – when he was mixing road and home trainer
with cyclocross and MTB.
Gallagher himself said he believed having that “cross
over” from cyclocross and MTB into road racing, saying being exposed to the off-road
disciplines from an early age was a major advantage and something he encouraged
in young riders he was coaching.
He added that Rafferty had had a very consistent
winter of training, which including a lot of aerobic or base work and also strategic
gym work. Some of that was aimed at ensuring Rafferty could cope with the extra
duration of road racing an international U23 level.
