Having started his racing with Dungarvan CC, David Gaffney moved last winter to find a European team he could begin his first-year junior season with. And the 17-year-old has repaid the confidence Team 31 Jolly Cycles showed in signing him up.
Last month he rode the five-stage Ain Bugey Valromey Tour (2.1) in France. His final results - 19th overall and 4th in the first-year junior classification - went under the radar. But it was a fine performance in such a big event.
Last weekend he was at it again; hammering away off the front of the La Ronde Des Vallées (2.1) stage race in France, securing 4th overall after placing 14th, 16th and 10th on the three stages. He is clearly in great form as he prepares for Irish team duty at the UCI Nations Cup Hungary, which starts tomorrow.
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"Getting 10th on the last stage meant I was 4th overall, and 2nd young rider (first-year junior classification) and that's more than I thought I'd get out of it," Gaffney told stickybottle after a "brutally hard" race. "I'm just delighted with it.
"And now it's good to be going to Hungary this week after a good performance like that, it's just good for the confidence, I'm just really happy with it."
It was Gaffney's ability to put in such a good ride on Sunday afternoon's final stage - 100km into Hémonstoir - that moved him right up the general classification.
"The last stage was brutal, it's the only way I can describe it," he said. "The heat was crazy, the course was so hard and having the first stage and the TT in your legs made it even harder.
"People were trying to get away from the gun; moves getting away and then just coming back. The leaders at the end got away about 20k into the stage and then from that point it was just about people trying to bridge across.
"With about 50 or 60k to go I attacked on one of the climbs, just trying to bring the group back a bit. But I felt really good so I carried on going and a few came with me, maybe six."
Gaffney added there were a couple of groups ahead and he and the riders he was with were soon able to see one of the groups, with his own team mate - France's Rémi Daumas - also bridging to his group.
"Me and him worked together to pull that group back going onto the final circuit. And when we went onto that circuit, it was just insane; non-stop on the gas for about 40-50k. I just hung on, kept going."
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On the final passage of the circuit, with his group having split, the Irish rider attacked with about 6km to go to the finish, holding off the riders he had been with. That secured him 10th on the stage, some 1:36 down on winner Ko Molenaar (Goudenbod-Parkhotel U19).
The time gained by Gaffney also moved him up to 4th in the final general classification, some 37 seconds down on his team mate Daumas, who sealed the overall victory after placing 3rd on the final stage.
It was a very good innings for the Irish teenager, especially after the race was such a challenging one from the outset. He said that on the opening stage, though the course was "punchy, up and down, steep climbs" it stayed together for the first half of the stage.
"It was a bit like racing in Ireland, the roads were really narrow, with a bad surface. And then into the second half of the stage groups started to go away."
The initial breakaway was comprised of seven riders, and though Gaffney was not in that move, he made sure to be in the chase group, numbering about 15, when it set out after the leaders. That group swelled to about 20 before the race moved onto the final circuits.
On the final lap of the circuit Gaffney's group got across to the leaders, by which time Eliott Boulet (Groupama-FDJ U19 Team) had already attacked from the front and was almost one minute clear.
The French teenager stayed clear to take the stage win, and first yellow jersey of the race. That left Gaffney's group competing for 2nd, and while it split a little at the finish, the gaps at the front of the group were only a matter of seconds.
The Irish rider ended the stage in 14th, some 55 seconds down on the winner and among a group of about 30 riders still in contention overall as the gaps back to the rest of the field were much bigger.
"I was fairly happy with that, it was a good result going into the second day, especially in a UCI race," he said.
The stage 2a TT - a hilly 11.5km stage into Hémonstoir with a headwind at the back end of the course - was challenging, though Gaffney finished 16th, some 57 seconds down on Matisse Van Kerckhove (Crabbé-Dstny U19), moving the Irish rider up to 8th overall.
"I was happy with the performance on that course, I don't I could have done much better and it set me up going into the last stage," he said. "I was ready to give it everything, I didn't want to waste the opportunity."
