Darren Rafferty has enjoyed a very strong weekend, when the first-year U23 rider got stronger as the four-stage Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux wound its way through western Belgium.
Still aged just 18-years-old, Rafferty was riding his second stage race with Hagens Berman Axeon on the U23 international scene. He was impressive on yesterday's split stage, concluding the race with 8th yesterday afternoon on a tough finish.
Rafferty, who won the Irish junior road race and TT crowns last year, placed 18th on the opening stage last Friday; 132km into Mont Saint-Aubert. The field split to pieces on the short climb to the finish line, with Rafferty 1:08 down on stage winner Lorenzo Milesi (Development Team DSM).
On Saturday the 170km stage 2 into Tertre saw Groupama FDJ's development team split the field in the crosswinds on the cobbles. Rafferty narrowly missed the front group, which numbered just 13 riders by the finish. He was in the 30-rider second group on the road, just over one minute down on the leaders. The stage was won by Australia U23 international Jensen Plowright (Equipe continentale Groupama-FDJ).
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On yesterday morning's 14.2km TT in Wodecq, Rafferty clearly showed no signs of fatigue from the first two stages as he finished in 16th place, some 48 seconds down on Italian rider Milesi, who had also won stage 1.
Fellow Irish rider Kevin McCambridge, making his debut for Trinity Racing, crashed heavily in the TT stage and was unfortunately forced out of the race after suffering broken wrists.
Yesterday afternoon's fourth stage - 95.7km into Frasnes-lez-Anvaing - finished on a steep cobbled climb, with the field splitting again. This time Rafferty proved one of the strongest in the race to finish in 8th place. He was among a 10-man group that finished 11 seconds down on winner Per Strand Hagenes (Jumbo-Visma Development), who won the junior road race at the Worlds last year.
That strong final day by Rafferty lifted him up the general classification. He ended the race in 13th, some 2:18 behind overall winner Enzo Paleni (Equipe continentale Groupama-FDJ), the French rider who had taken the race lead in the TT.
