David Gaffney finds his climbing legs quickly in European peloton

David Gaffney has taken a very strong result in just his second U23 one-day race of the European scene (Photo: Nassos Triantafyllou)

David Gaffney (Hagens Berman Jayco) is finding his legs very quickly on the U23 European scene, with the Waterford teenager climbing with some of the best U23 riders in the world at Giro del Belvedere (1.2U) today, Monday.

The race - one of the most prestigious U23 one-day races of the spring - was won by reigning U23 world champion, and former junior world champion, Lorenzo Finn (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe Rookies).

The riders faced 13 very short climbs over the first 135km of the race before moving on to a concluding circuit, for two laps. That finishing loop included the Montaner climb, 1.5km at 11.4 per cent gradient.

Finn took flight solo the first time up that climb, with Aubin Sparfel (Decathlon CMA CGM Development Team) staying with him longest. However, the Frenchman couldn't match the Italian and fell back into the select group that included Gaffney.

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As Finn powered his way around the remainder of the course, to win by 1:20, a group of three managed to get away in the closing stages to mop up the 2nd to 4th positions.

And just seven seconds later a group of 11, including Gaffney, sprinted it out for 5th, with Slovakian Samuel Novák (Tirol KTM Cycling Team) proving fastest. Gaffney finished in 11th place on the day, a really strong result at this level, especially as he is a first-year U23 rider.

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The result suggests he already has the climbing level to compete with the best on the U23 scene. Another fancied Irish rider, Killian O'Brien (Team Skyline), was in 40th place, at 5:17 while first-year U23 Conor Murphy (Decathlon CMA CGM Development Team) was among the non-finishers.

Yesterday, the U23 Irish riders were also in action in Italy, in the 180km Trofeo Piva (1.2U). Multiple short climbs from start to finish combined for a near 4,000m of elevation gain on the day.

Adam Rafferty ((Hagens Berman Jayco), who has just ridden Coppi e Bartali with the Jayco AlUla World Tour team, put in a very strong ride to take 18th. He was 1:23 down on Italian winner, Riccardo Lorello (SC Padovani Polo Cherry Bank).

Gaffney and O'Brien were also in action and finished in 52nd and 78th, at 4:10 and 5:07 respectively. The Irish riders are in action again tomorrow, Tuesday, in Italy, at the GP Palio del Recioto (1.2U), which is another course for the climbers.

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