Darren Rafferty has described the Vuelta from now on as "unchartered territory" for him, adding he was determined to do as much as he could for his EF Education-EasyPost team leader Richard Carapaz. And with the Ecuadorian having moved up to 3rd overall on Sunday's big mountain stage, it's 'game on' for the men in pink.
Rafferty, aged 21 years and in his first Grand Tour, told stickybottle he was "pretty tired" after nine days of racing in sweltering heat. He now has more kilometres on consecutive days in his legs, and at higher intensity, than he has ever raced before.
But he also sounded undaunted by the challenge to come - with almost two more weeks of racing ahead - adding he was very happy to have gotten up the road on Sunday's stage. He made the breakaway and then did a huge shift - for between 15-20km - to drag Carapaz much closer to the leaders.
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"I hadn't been feeling too great the days before, so I think the team didn't put too much pressure on us," Rafferty told stickybottle on Monday's rest day. "They just wanted to get a few of us in the breakaway if we could. And they had the idea Richie was going to attack on the first climb. And if we could have somebody waiting at the top for him, that was where he could save a bit of energy.
"But at the end of the day, the pressure was on him to do an impressive ride, really all day. So I just helped with a small part of that. But it was nice to feel part of the race because I didn't feel too useful in those first few days of the race. It was nice to try and do something a bit more useful if I could."
Rafferty made the early move - over 20 riders - and when it split towards the top of the first climb, he was in that front section. He then drifted back and waited for Carapaz - who had attacked from the bunch behind. Rafferty helped his team leader on the descent and up the next climb.
"The breakaway formation wasn't too bad, but definitely I was starting to suffer on the climb," said Rafferty. "That pace Soler was setting was pretty intense. I knew I had to hang on for as long as I could with the idea of Richie coming across.
"So it wasn't really the end of the world if I got dropped, it was more about making sure he didn't catch me before I got to the top of the climb. If I'd left it too late, well then I'm not any use at all. So that was the motivation; to try and be useful in the first half of the race and then my job was done.
Though Carapaz came up short on catching Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) and taking the stage win, he placed 2nd, gained over two minutes on the general classification riders and moved up 15 places to 3rd overall. The team was very happy with that performance, which has put Carapaz squarely in the fight for the overall.
"I think it's been what they've been what they've been trying to get us to buy into from the start; that idea that the long climbs and the hard days were still to come," Rafferty said of EF Education-EasyPost management clearly maintaining focus on the long game that is Grand Tour racing.
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"So that was the first really, really big mountain test. And Richie showed that he's definitely one of the strongest climbers in the race. We'll just keep working away at it, hopefully stay on the podium or go for the win, that would be nice."
And what of his own race? Was Rafferty feeling the pressure and intensity of a first Grand Tour ride as a World Tour neo pro? And how does it compare to the other races he has ridden to date?
"I think the distance and the heat every day has been pretty tough. But all things considered it's not too bad. I was glad of the rest day coming today. In general, I think it's what I expected. The heat was probably harder than anybody was prepared for, that's been pretty tiring."
Rafferty also said the fact he had a specific job to do for Carapaz each day meant his race so far had been based around certain tasks, which was a change.
"The way I'm racing, I'm not really going to the line a lot of the days, my job kind of finishes a bit earlier. So it's different in that aspect. In most races you're racing the full thing. But it's more about things outside of the racing, that makes (the Vuelta) bigger.
"There's more people, more staff with the team, more focus on everything; more bottle points more details in the team meetings. Everyone's just a bit more focused. And then obviously we have Richie doing really well, so everyone's taking themselves pretty seriously."
And though starting a first Grand Tour is a big juncture in any pro rider's career, Rafferty said once the racing began, it was a case of settling into it.
"As soon as I started the TT, all that nervous energy is gone," he said of last Saturday week's opening stage in Lisbon. "You're flying in on the Wednesday (ahead of the race) and you don't start the racing until Saturday, so it's a long time sitting around in a hotel room waiting for the race to start. That was probably the hardest part. Once I got into it, it's like any other race."
To date in his career, he has raced seven- and eight-day events. But now, with nine days done, the next two weeks are a step further than he has ever gone. However, his is a support role in Spain and he sounded determined to given every ounce to Carapaz.
"The pressure is not directly on me, and the team just wants me to do the best that I can every day, help out Richie as much as possible," he said. "And once I can do no more, I just take it as easy as I can and get ready for the next day. So at the minute it's just a day at a time. I think that's the best way to approach it."
