Darren Rafferty (Hagens Berman Axeon) has put in arguably the best performance of his career to date on today's Baby Giro stage 4, where he was among the very strongest in the race on the feared Stelvio summit finish.
Rafferty - 12th on the opening stage TT and 9th overall this morning - made the 12-man select group on the final mountain; some 21.9km of climbing averaging seven per cent. And when that group split after attacks, he was in the leading trio.
He approached the finish on the climb, after 119km of racing, with Johannes Staune-Mittet (Jumbo-Visma DT) and Alexy Faure Prost (Circus-ReUz-Technord) for a three-up finale. He lost touch with the other two in the final push for the line - losing 11 seconds to them - though only having ridden out of his skin.
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And though the Irishman had to settle for 3rd place - behind winner Staune-Mittet and runner-up Faure Prost - he put in a career-best ride that showcased his climbing abilities. It also means he is now right in contention for a final podium finish on this race, and possibly even overall victory. He has moved up into 2nd place, just behind new maglia rosa Staune-Mittet, and with a tidy margin on even the riders closest to him overall.
He is 18 seconds down on race leader Staune-Mittet and has 19 seconds on Faure Prost, who moved up 41 places to 3rd overall. After those three, the next riders are over a minute down and at 10th place it's over two minutes.
Alessio Martinelli (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè) is 4th, some 1:18 off the race leader, meaning 58 seconds down on Rafferty. Colombian Santiago Umba (GW Shimano-Sidermec) is 5th, some 1:40 off the race lead, meaning 1:22 down on Ireland's Rafferty with one big stage to come in the mountains, including a summit finish on Pian del Cansiglio, on stage 7.
How it unfolded for Darren Rafferty
While a breakaway had over one minute in hand when the main field hit the climb, their gap gradually came down. And though there were some attacks off the front of that leading group, the aggressors were eventually overhauled. As the climb continued, and the escapees were caught, the peloton continued to jettison riders out the bike.
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Closer to the finish that peloton was down to a select group which numbered just 12 riders with just 7km remaining to the finish at the top of the mountain; Rafferty included in that group.
As well as the talent Irishman, also in the breakaway were: Alexy Faure Prost (Circus-ReUz-Technord), Alessio Martinelli (Green Project-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè), Santiago Umba, Germán Gómez (GW Shimano-Sidermec), Jan Christen (Hagens Berman Axeon), Johannes Staune-Mittet, Tijmen Graat, Menno Huising (Jumbo-Visma DT), Nahom Zerai (Q36.5 Continental), William Junior Lecerf (Soudal-QuickStep Devo) e Hannes Wilksch (Tudor U23).
While stage 1 TT winner, and race leader, Alec Segaert (Lotto Dstny) was among those who could not deal with the pace of the 12 up front, he did not crack completely, dropping back to between one minute and 1:30 behind the select group for a long time.
Up front. Rafferty's Swiss team mate Christen and Huising were the first ones to be dropped from that 12-man group. Very shortly after they lost their place, Jumbo Visma's high fancied Staune-Mittet attacks. That move split the group with only four able to move with him; Rafferty, Umba, Faure Prost and Zerai.
However, Umba then also lost his place, leaving just three up front; Rafferty Staune-Mittet and Faure Prost as the finish line neared; the Irish rider doing an incredible ride on the hardest climb of this Baby Giro.
While Staune-Mittet was best in the final surge to the line, ahead of Faure Prost and Rafferty, the Irishman from Co Tyrone can be extremely happy with his ride; the first time in his career he has had a chance to target his own result in the really high mountains.
