Adam Rafferty powers his way down the course at Tour of Rhodes (2.2) in the prologue TT that got the four-stage race underway (Photo: Nassos Triantafyllou)
Adam Rafferty and new U23 rider David Gaffney have made their mark in the opening TT stage at Tour of Rhodes (2.2), where their Hagens Berman Jayco team put three of its riders in the top 10, including Britain's Ben Wiggins.
Rafferty told stickybottle he was now "really looking forward" to the road stages, having escaped the illness that has swept through the riders and staff in recent days in the shape of a vomiting bug. However, some of the other nine Irish riders in the race had not been so lucky as they have been hit hard.
"The prologue was good and it was more about just getting it done safely and then getting ready for the next three days," Rafferty said of the stages to come, including plenty of climbing, in a race he is now riding for the third time.
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"Luckily all the Hagens boys did really well. We have five in the top 20 and myself Will and Ben were 4th, 5th and 6th. And then Dave was only something like one second behind us.
"So in that sense, it's really good. We have a lot of options for the GC and for stages. So I'm really looking forward to it. For myself, luckily so far I've been able to escape the sickness, touch wood. But it’s just a lottery.”
Jack Conroy, above, and Curtis Neill got stuck in during the opener in Greece for their Velo Performance team (Photo: Nassos Triantafyllou)
For the Irish-Portuguese Velo Performance U23 Development Team, new riders Jack Conroy and Curtis Neill can be happy with their performances.
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They jumped into a strong international field, in a UCI-ranked stage race, and have held their own, showing they have come out of the winter in good shape as they were only 13 seconds down.
Rafferty was the best finisher of the nine Irish riders in the race, placing 5th in the 2.1km prologue, just five seconds behind winner Cameron Rogers (Ineos Grenadiers Racing Academy).
Rogers is the nephew of three-time TT world champion, Mick Rogers, while his father, Peter, was also a very strong rider and Australian international in his day.
The Irish riders performed as follows in the prologue: Adam Rafferty (Hagens Berman Jayco) 5th at 5 seconds; David Gaffney (Hagens Berman Jayco) 15th at 6 seconds; Jack Conroy (Velo Performance U23 Development Team) 60th at 13 seconds; Curtis Neill (Velo Performance U23 Development Team) 62rd at 13 seconds.
The other Irish riders, some of whom have been ill, were: Isaac Burman (Velo Performance U23 Development Team) 118th at 22 seconds; Cal Tutty (Velo Performance U23 Development Team) 137th at 28 seconds; Josh Callaly (Velo Performance U23 Development Team) 138th at 28 seconds; Killian O'Brien (Team Skyline) 144th at 33 seconds; Eoghan Lattimore (Velo Performance U23 Development Team) 63rd at 24:40.
The race continues on Friday with a 154.7km road stage, consisting of eight laps of a circuit in Maritsa. The lap is up and down almost all the way, for a total elevation gain of 2,000m through the stage.
And though the biggest climb on the circuit is short - 1.3km at just over three per cent average gradient - it will be a wearing down process, especially for those riders who have been ill in recent days.
