Darren Rafferty went close to a top three finish on stage two of the Giro Next Gen in Italy on Monday, going on the attack with just over an hour of racing to go he ended up in a three-man move which was still well ahead with five kilometres remaining.
However while Gil Gelders (Soudal QuickStep Development Team) jumped clear from this move to take the stage win, Rafferty and the third rider in the break were mopped up by the chasing bunch on the climb up to the finish.
Rafferty went across the line in 26th, finishing as part of the group which finished six seconds behind the winner. The Dungannon rider had previously finished 12th in Sunday’s opening time trial and thanks to a three second time bonus during the stage, is now up to a fine ninth overall.
He is 22 seconds behind stage one winner Alec Segaert (Lotto DSTNY Development Team). Rafferty was second on the category two climb of Novello and is now second overall in the King of the Mountains competition.
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The race is one of the most prestigious in cycling for Under-23 riders, and is seen as a barometer of future success in the pro peloton. It was previously known as the Giro Ciclistico d’Italia, or the Baby Giro.
Meanwhile Lara Gillespie had a fine run off success in the UCI Class 1-ranked GP Prešov track meet in Slovakia over the weekend. The Enniskerry rider teamed up with Alice Sharpe to win the Madison event, then took both the elimination race and the omnium race.
Emily Kay was also successful, winning the scratch race and netting fourth in the elimination race. She and Gabi Homer were sixth in the women’s Madison race behind Gillespie and Sharpe. Matthew Dobbins was sixth in the men’s omnium.
Elsewhere Eric Creighton and Aoife O’Brien were a fine second and third in the elite scratch race at the Festival International De La Piste Toulon Provence Mediterranee C2-ranked track event held in Hyères-les-Palmiers in France.
Over the weekend, Conn McDunphy made it two wins in two weeks in the Road National Series, winning round five in the John Drumm Cup in Currow on Sunday to extend his overall lead. The Lucan Cycling Road Club rider rode aggressively in the finale of the five lap, 130 kilometre men’s race, which was run off on a testing circuit around Currow, Castleisland and Scartaglin.
He got clear with junior men’s series leader Killian O’Brien (Orwell Wheelers), Joel Luke (UCD Cycling Club) and Eoin Kelly (UCD Cycling Club), who had been part of an early five-man breakaway. McDunphy and O’Brien shook off Kelly and Luke inside the final 10 kilometres, with McDunphy then surging again to go clear alone and solo to victory.
O’Brien was caught and beaten for second by Kelly, while Liam Crowley (UCD Cycling Club) and Paul Kennedy (Burren Cycling Club) were fourth and fifth.
“I’m happy with that because I’m just off a pretty heavy training block for the National Championships,” McDunphy said. “I wasn’t sure how I would fare. The course didn’t necessarily suit me, it was flat and fast, there were a few kickers that split it up towards the end of the race.
“I was lucky to have Killian (O’Brien) with me in the breakaway – he was doing some savage turns. I’m happy enough with the win, it’s nice to get another win on the cards. Every day that you win a bike race is a good day.”
Early on Kelly, Luke, Aaron Wade (Cortizo Aluminium Team), Cillian Murphy (unattached) and James Davenport (All human-VeloRevolution) all went clear and had a 50 second gap with just over two laps to go. Wade and Davenport then slipped back to the bunch, with strong riders behind then going clear to try to bridge across.
That led to the final four-man move and McDunphy’s second consecutive victory.
[ ‘If I was in Dublin, I wouldn’t be cycling’ - professional track and road cyclist Imogen Cotter ]
Former national road race champion Imogen Cotter (Unattached Connacht) improved on her second place of last week, soloing to victory in the 82km women’s event. She was one of five riders who went clear on the opening lap of three, joining up with Jennifer Neenan (Un-Attached Leinster), Jemma Speers (North Down CC), Carthach McCarthy (Blarney Cycling Club) and Yvonne Doran (Orwell Wheelers) to build an advantage of over three minutes heading on to the final lap.
Cotter then made her move on a drag and finished well clear, with Neenan, Speers, McCarthy and Doran next home.
Hannah Hayes (TC Racing) finished 10th and took over at the top of the junior ranking, displacing previous leader Shauna Finn who did not compete.
“I hadn’t any particular place planned to attack,” said Cotter. “I just kind of went and I just thought I’d make it hard for everyone and make it a difficult race. I felt the pace was a bit slower at parts so I thought I could maybe inject a bit of pace. On the drags and hills I was trying to put some pace in.
“When I attacked, they didn’t go with me, and I had maybe half of the last lap on my own. Once I’m into a rhythm, that’s kind of my strong point at the moment. I had a very bad injury last year. The explosive stuff isn’t great but long and steady stuff is my forte so that’s what I did.”
Caoimhe O’Brien (Belco Van Eyck) continues to lead the women’s series overall.
Round six of the Road National Series is the Mullingar Grand Prix on July 16th.
Road National Series round 5, John Drumm Cup, Currow:
Women’s race: 1 Imogen Cotter (Un-Attached Connacht), 2 J Neenan (Un-Attached Leinster), 3 J Speers (North Down CC), 4 C McCarthy (Blarney Cycling Club), 5 Y Doran (Orwell Wheelers), 6 C Ni Ghallchoir (UCD Cycling Club), 7 M Smith (Brother UK-Orientation Marketing Race Team), 8 L Stapelbroek (Un-Attached Munster), 9 C O’Sullivan (Greenmount CA), 10 H Hayes (TC Racing)
Men’s race: 1 Conn McDunphy (Lucan Cycling Road Club), 2 E Kelly (UCD Cycling Club), 3 K O’Brien (Orwell Wheelers), 4 L Crowley (UCD Cycling Club), 5 P Kennedy (Burren Cycling Club), 6 J Kenny (UCD Cycling Club), 7 D Radford (Black House Racing), 8 A Wade (Cortizo Aluminium Team), 9 C Murphy (unattached), 10 J Luke (UCD Cycling Club)
