Archie Ryan (Jumbo Visma Development) and Darren Rafferty (Hagens Berman Axeon) have both gotten another early season race into their legs in Croatia, with both riders finishing the 156km Poreč Trophy (1.2) in the main pack today and managed to avoid some late crashes.
While the circuit was an undulating one, the climbs were small leading to a thinning down of the bunch but not breaking things up enough to prevent a bunch sprint.
Ryan (20), who is coming back to racing after a year away due to a knee injury, finished in 40th place while Rafferty (18), who is just beginning his time at Continental level, was 41st.
The two Irish riders were 17 seconds down on the winner as gaps emerged in the final uphill sprint to the finish line, where a number of crashes took place. The race was won by 24-year-old Serbian Dušan Rajović (Team Corratec) from Slovenian Matevž Govekar (Tirol KTM Cycling) and Croatian Viktor Potočki (Ljubljana Gusto Santic).
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As it was always expected to finish in a bunch sprint, it was not a race that Ryan or Rafferty had targeted or been expected to challenge in. Ryan is due into action again on March 18th in Belgium at Youngster Coast Challenge (1.2U); another flat race where he will work towards a team effort for the sprinters.
Rafferty is set to ride the Istrian Sprint Trophy stage race, which gets underway in Croatia on March 10th. With a TT stage and some road stages featuring harder terrain than today, it may offer him a better chance to test himself against the opposition.
