Darren Rafferty has put in a very strong ride at the European Road Championships in Italy today; the Irish junior ever-present at the front of the road race and also going clear in attacks.
In the end, he had to be content to finish in the bunch today, which was down to just 37 riders at the conclusion of the 107.2km junior title race. However, his performance today, combined with 4th in the European Championships junior TT on Wednesday, are confirmation of his talent in an international context.
With eight laps of a circuit to contend with in Trento today, and with a climb each lap, the Irish were represented by Rafferty (Island Wheelers), Dean Harvey (VC Glendale), Ruairi Byrne (Orwell Wheelers), Ronan O'Connor (Orwell Wheelers), Adam Gilsenan (VC Glendale) and Conal Scully (Carlow RCC).
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The race proved to be a war of attrition, with the strong nations - such as Norway, Belgium and France - piling the pressure on at times and the field being further whittled down each lap.
And once riders fell behind they were stopped at the start-finish area from going out onto the next lap. That meant just 77 riders of a 157-rider field finished the race.
In the women's U23 and junior races the same scenario played out. Just 32 riders finished the women's junior race, with Ireland's Aoife O'Brien among the non-finishers. And in the U23 women's race there were just 31 finishers, with Ireland's Lucy O'Donnell, Caoimhe O'Brien and Darcy Harkness not finishing.
In the men's junior race, Rafferty went on the attack on the fourth lap with German rider Cédric Abt. While they forged a gap and tried to extend it, they were eventually caught by the bunch. However, the Co Tyrone teenager looked comfortable throughout, and appeared to be able to hold his place close to the front while also going on the attack.
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Dean Harvey, who has been the top junior rider on the domestic scene this year, also looked comfortable until he suffered bad luck today. The Belfast teenager had a problem with his seat post, losing his place in the thinned out peloton before being forced out of the race.
On the final lap today a three-man group got clear going over the climb, with Rafferty close to the front at the time and just missing out. France had two in that group - its junior road race and TT champion Romain Grégoire and Lenny Martinez. They were joined in that attack by Norway's junior road race champion Per Strand Hagenes.
While that trio only pulled out a small gap over the remains of the bunch in the closing kilometres, the presence of two French riders in the three-man group was to prove decisive. They drove the pace, determined to stay clear, and made it all the way.
At the line the three leaders sprinted it out to decide the order of the medals. Grégoire, who has been very impressive in UCI-ranked junior races in Europe this year, was best in the sprint. He took the title from Hagenes in 2nd, with Martinez taking the bronze.
The bunch arrived at the finish line just 10 seconds later and the sprint from that 37-rider group was won by Belgium's Vlad van Mechelen. Ireland's Rafferty was in that bunch and placed 35th.
Ronan O'Connor, the national road race champion, was the only other finisher for Ireland; placing 70th at 8:08. O'Connor, a very strong rider, was in the bunch on the last lap but crashed. It was a disappointing turn of events for him, having done so well to make it that far in the bunch; falling just as he was getting set to contest the finale.
The European title race was a big step up for the Irish juniors as the pandemic has robbed them of the chance to ride for the national team abroad over the last two seasons.
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