Adam Rafferty, a first-year U23, and his brother Darren Rafferty have both finished in the top 10 in the U23 men's TT at the World Road Championships in Zurich.
The Co Tyrone brothers, whose sister Aliyah will be in action at these Worlds in the women's junior team, put in fantastic performances on a day when Spain's Iván Romeo, a Movistar rider, claimed the gold medal.
Darren Rafferty will likely be a little disappointed he could not medal this year after his 4th place 12 months ago but Adam Rafferty has announced himself today with a breakthrough ride.
Romeo (21) roared around the 29.9km course in an average speed of 48.867kmph to take the title by 32 seconds from Swedish cycling's next big hope Jakob Söderqvist, a 21-year-old who rides for Lidl-Trek Future Racing.
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Jan Christen (Switzerland) claimed the bronze medal in front of home crowds, some 40 seconds down on the winner. One of the big pre-race favourites, Alec Segaert (Belgium), placed 4th at 54 seconds while fellow Belgian, Robin Orins, was 5th at 57 seconds.
Then came Darren Rafferty, the EF Education-EasyPost rider placing 6th, at 1:01, in his first race after completing La Vuelta, his debut Grand Tour.
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His younger brother, Adam Rafferty who riders for Hagens Berman Jayco and is still just 18-years-old, placed 10th at 1:17 after one of the best rides of the day in the 69-rider field.
More to come.
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? Iván Romeo pulveriza el mejor tiempo y se coloca primero.#Zurich2024 | #LaCasadelCiclismo pic.twitter.com/jgKrOoWvKW
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) September 23, 2024
