Irish junior rider Darren Rafferty has signed with Axel Merckx’s Hagens Berman Axeon team for next season, when he moves up to the U23 ranks.
The Co Tyrone teenager came up through the ranks at Island Wheelers on the domestic scene in Ireland before going to France for several months in the summer to ride for Team31 JollyCycles U19.
Rafferty impressed with a series of stage race wins, starting that winning run immediately he began racing there. And just last week he took 4th in the junior TT at the European Road Championships, before a strong showing in the road race in Italy.
Rafferty is the second rider to join the 2022 Hagens Berman Axeon roster after Denmark’s Kasper Anderson, last year’s junior European road race champion.
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Rafferty also follows in footsteps of Eddie Dunbar as the current Ineos Grenadiers rider previously rode for US-based Continental team Hagens Berman Axeon.
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“Darren is a young rider that has progressed very quickly through the junior ranks,” said team owner and director Axel Merckx today when announcing the signing of the young Irishman.
“He has great potential and showed it by finishing fourth at the European Junior Championships in the time trial. We’re talking about someone who wasn’t well-known a few months ago.
"(He) really went for the opportunity that was presented to him. With his aggressive style of riding he is going to be a great asset to the team and I’m really excited about him joining us next year."
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