Irish juniors Adam Rafferty and Sam Coleman have been riding very strongly for their French squad, Team 31 Jolly Cycles U19. Both riders were part of the Irish junior team that took on Kerry Group Rás Mumhan over the Easter Bank Holiday weekend and since then they have been traveling to France for racing.
Rafferty, a second-year junior, has just taken his first win of the season, from a big field in a three-stage race, while both he and Coleman also finishing in the top 10 overall.
Both riders were part of the Team 31 Jolly Cycles U19 line-up that took on Tour du Pays d'Olliergues at the weekend, a three-stage race based around the Auvergne area of central France.
The opening stage was a hilly affair and saw the field split to pieces. Big time gaps emerged on the 106km route from St Gervais to St Pierre La Bourlhonne in the Puy-de-Dôme département, with the stage finishing up a final climb.
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The stage was won solo by Paul Seixas (AG2R Citroën U19 Team), with Coleman finishing in 18th at 4:17 and Rafferty 19th at 4:40, from 125 starters. The second stage was an 8.2km TT from Verolaye to Marat, which was very impressively won by Rafferty, the 17-year-old from Co Tyrone who started his cycling with Island Wheelers.
Rafferty won the TT by two seconds from yellow jersey Seixas, collecting his first victory of the season in Europe, though he recently won Lakeland Grand Prix on the home scene after a 100km solo breakaway. Coleman, a 16-year-old first-year junior who began cycling with Shelbourne-Orchard CC, was 23rd in the TT at 45 seconds.
On the final stage of the race, the riders took on 88.8km from Marat to La Brugeron, with Rafferty making the breakaway on the day. When three riders forged clear of that escape group, Rafferty was one of the trio along with his team mate, Vincent Bobet, and the race leader Seixas.
It was Seixas who went on to win the stage and seal overall victory, with Bobet 2nd on the uphill finish, at two seconds, and Rafferty 3rd, at four seconds. Coleman was 18th, in a chasing group just over two minutes down on a day when the field split significantly.
That final stage result meant Rafferty finished 6th overall, some 4:42 down on the winner. Coleman's ride on the final day lifted him into the top 10, some 7:01 down.
