Darren Rafferty and Sam Oomen up the road at Tour of the Alps, before Rafferty's team mate attacked after them in the closing stages of the race (Photo: Getty)
Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost) has questioned the assumption his two-man breakaway may have stayed away at Tour of the Alps (2.Pro) yesterday, Wednesday, but for his team mate attacking after him in the closing stages.
The Irishman was away with Sam Oomen (Lidl Trek) for 130km on stage 3, most of it into a headwind. And while they still had 40 seconds in hand on the final climb - 14km from the finish, 10km of it downhill - Rafferty's team mate Juan Felipe Rodriguez attacked after them.
That move by the Colombian - who beat Liam O'Brien to a stage win at Ronde de l'Isard (2.2U) last year - sparked a surge in the bunch that further helped close down the two leaders.
That action off the front, on the final climb, cut Rafferty's and Oomen's advantage by more than half and they were eventually caught about 3km from the finish. The Irish rider still finished in the front group - of less than 40 riders - and moved up to 16th overall.
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"I think it would have been the same," Rafferty said of the outcome of the stage if his team mate had not attacked and the bunch had not responded in the way it did.
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"I think the peloton was coming so quickly at the finish... we were already doing 60k per hour and they caught us within 1.5k on the flat. So I think (the team mate's attack) didn't change anything."
Rather than his team mate's move - which may observers believed was unusual and ill-timed - Rafferty said the big challenge was that his breakaway contained just him and Oomen. He said more riders were needed to make it all the way to the finish.
"It was also mostly headwind all day, it was a long fight all the way. It was always going to be difficult with only two of us, it was hard," he said.
However, he was very pleased to have gotten stuck into the stage, adding it confirmed to him that his condition is improving.
"It was a long day out on front, but I think it was a nice day," he said of the breakaway ride. "It was good to get involved, to get to the front of the race and see how the legs were.
"We'll keep trying with the whole team. We're all motivated to get involved in the race. The (shape) is on the up so I'm happy."
