David Gaffney and Adam Rafferty will both race for the Hagens Berman Jayco UCI Continental U23 development team this year while compatriot, and Irish U23 road race champion, Emma Jeffers, will be part of the Liv AlUla Jayco Women's Continental Team.
Both of those teams are feeder squads for the 'Jayco AlUla' men's and women's World Tour teams. Rafferty, Jeffers and Gaffney are really exciting prospects who have a fantastic opportunity to showcase their talents around the world in the year ahead.
The three riders have taken to social media to show off their new kits for the coming season, with the look for both of their teams almost identical to their World Tour colleagues.
Rafferty has been in Australia, with compatriot Seth Dunwoody, training away under the watchful eye of coach Stephen Gallagher. The Co Tyrone man is photographed in his new kit, in Australia, with British team mate Ben Wiggins.
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For now, we only have headshots of Jeffers and Gaffney in their new duds, though we'll soon have no shortage of action photos once they get up and running when the season starts.
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It's a big moment for Gaffney as he is now stepping up from the junior ranks to U23 international racing in 2026. This is obviously his first season with the Hagens Berman Jayco team, and even getting into that squad is some achievement given the competition for places on top U23 teams and the talent coming out of the juniors.
Gaffney (18) had a really strong season last year and, like Rafferty, he is a rider who can road race in the one-days but who also has the talents, including in the TTs, for stage races. He won a bronze medal in the junior road race at the Europeans in France in October; the first time an Irish rider has ever won a medal in a road race at a Europeans.
Rafferty (20) also took a medal home from those championships - bronze in the U23 TT - at the end of what was his first season as a full-time bike rider. He also claimed a stage win at Giro Next Gen, with a performance that was as classy as it was brave.
He is now going into his third season, of four, as an U23 rider. He was called up to the Jayco AlUla World Tour team for some races in 2025, meaning last year was one of significant progression for him, which he will want more of in the year ahead.
Jeffers, who has just turned 21-years-old, is now going into her third season with Liv AlUla Jayco and 2025 was a very significant milestone campaign for her. She became a regular member of the Irish elite track team, including in the all-important team pursuit, and also competed for Ireland on the road, at the Europeans.
Jeffers also won the Irish U23 road race title last year in Co Meath and claimed several wins in Europe. Those victories included a stage at Memorial Michela Fanini (2.2), where she held the leader's jersey, and a stage victory at Giro Mediterraneo in Rosa (2.2), as well as winning the points classification there.
