Adam Rafferty (Team 31 Jolly Cycles U19) has continued his very good run of form of late, adding his first European road race win to the Irish junior TT title he claimed just over two weeks ago on home roads in Co Tyrone.
Rafferty - the brother of Baby Giro runner-up Darren Rafferty (Hagens Berman Axeon) - had already won two junior races in France, this season and last year, though both of those victories were against the watch. Yesterday he claimed his first win in a road race, proving best at the end of 114.8km of racing in south central France.
Rafferty yesterday came to the line in Tour du Carmausin-Ségala with his team mate, Remi Daumas, with the duo taking a team 1-2. Their 31 Jolly Cycles U19 squad enjoyed a great race yesterday, filling placings 1st to 4th after clearly rising to the top of the 96-rider field.
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The race was a point to point event - rather than taking place on a circuit - and saw the riders tackle about 1,500m of elevation gain in temperatures of up to 35°C. Rafferty's team mate Daumas got up the road in an early breakaway and by the time 45km were covered, he was leading solo.
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However, the peloton then began to close his gap and as it reduced to about 45 seconds, Rafferty attacked with about 60km completed. He soon bridged over to his team and once the catch was made the duo put their heads down for the last 55km of the race.
At the finish, Rafferty took the victory ahead of Daumas, who also won the climbers classification. Their team mates, Vincent Bodet and Ugo Fabries, were 3rd and 4th, after finishing 48 seconds down.
Rafferty was 6th in the race last year, when it was a stage race. It was his second win of the season France after claiming the TT stage in Tour du Pays d'Olliergues back in May. He took his first ever win in France last year, when he was best in the TT stage at Tour Junior Causses-Aigoual-Cévennes in August.
His victory in the Tour du Carmausin-Ségala yesterday - after the race split to pieces - comes two years after his brother won the same event. Their sister, Aliyah Rafferty (Island Wheelers), won the final stage of the Newry Three Day yesterday week. The 15-year-old was given permission, as an U16 rider, to race against the elites; winning that stage final stage on the uphill finish in Rathfriland as well as the junior classification and the queen of the hills classification.
Adam Rafferty now joins Irish team mate Sam Coleman - as well as other leading Irish juniors Patrick Casey and Seth Dunwoody in the Tour du Valromey, a major French stage race that gets underway on Wednesday. That means they will, unfortunately, miss the Junior Tour of Ireland which starts tomorrow.
