When the road kicked up repeatedly on the queen stage in Greece, Adam Rafferty and only three or four pure climbers were left at the front (Photo: Nassos-Triantafyllou)
Adam Rafferty (Hagens Berman Jayco) on Sunday came away from Tour of Rhodes (UCI 2.2) with 2nd on the final stage – after 3,000m of climbing – and 2nd overall. Though he wanted to win, he said stage and overall victor Matteo Scalco (XDS Astana Development Team) “was just better than me today”.
It was Rafferty’s third time in this race and he has progressed each time; 9th on GC two years ago, 5th last year and now 2nd. Though young riders are often obsessed with their data, Rafferty outlined several other key areas to stickybottle as the reasons why his racing performance has improved. And very little of it, if any, is down to power.
“I think, in terms of physical level, I’m pretty much the same as last year,” he said, specifically referring to power output. “But in terms of race management, and knowing what to do, I’m much better.
“When I say about last year… I mean in terms of peak power and so on. I’m not that much stronger now. But when it comes to fatigue resistance, and just generally withstanding the efforts more, I’m much better.
“Like, I was able to sprint in that group at the end there today (for 2nd), and that wouldn’t have been something I was usually able to do (last year).”
Adam Rafferty outsprints the two EF riders for 2nd place on Sunday, saying being able to muster that effort at the end results from his being able to better withstand the pressures of hard racing (Photo: Nassos-Triantafyllou)
Rafferty continued: “So I see (2nd overall in Greece) positively. Yes, I didn’t win. But the other guy was just better. I also feel like last year I was just too trigger happy; doing my max power, going into the red, doing PBs…
“But with this race, I’m really quite happy with how I controlled myself. I knew where I had to save myself for, where I couldn’t go too deep.”
Rafferty’s approach to the race was simple. First, he needed to keep himself in contention in the prologue TT last Thursday, and avoid any crashes. He came in 5th, just five seconds down on stage winner Cameron Rogers (Ineos Grenadiers Racing Academy).
And on Friday’s and Saturday’s road stages, it was about him and his team being attentive and making sure no breakaways rode away to gain time. He finished in the bunch both days, only losing seconds to the riders who finished in the top three on the stages and took the time bonuses.
It meant he went into Sunday’s final stage – 156.5km to Kremasti with almost 3,000m of climbing – in 9th overall, just 12 seconds down on race leader Rogers. Though the stage was always going to produce a big shake-up, the winds really whipped up overnight, resulting in carnage from the start.
Hagens Berman Jayco team mates David Gaffney, Adam Rafferty and Ben Wiggins put in a great ride, Wiggins riding out of his socks on the final day considering he is a track, classics and TT rider (Photo: Nassos Triantafyllou)
“It was a wearing down process,” he said of the stage from the very start. “I woke up this morning and went outside and there was howling wind. So we started on what should have been a nice calm stretch along the flat, by the sea, and we had crosswinds. It was hectic.”
The riders tackled a 9km climb, averaging four per cent, after 65km, followed by an undulating plateau for about 15km before finally descending. The last test of the day was a 2km climb at just over 5km, crested 30km from the finish.
Rafferty said the bunch was trimmed back from the very start and, with each climb, the peloton was noticeably smaller. On the penultimate climb, just before the halfway point, the Co Tyrone rider was among a very small group of men that led the way over the top.
“The main selection was made there; there was just me and three other guys left there,” he said of cresting that longest climb of the day, with 80km left to race.
“Then we rode a bit, but a couple of people came back. An EF guy had a team mate coming back, so it was all a bit sketchy in terms of what was about to happen.”
While the group swelled as a few riders bridged across, it only grew to a maximum of seven. The field was blown apart behind the leaders; the speed, the wind and the climbs conspiring to produce a Greek tragedy (sorry – Ed) for many.
Once the leading seven hit that final climb, eventual winner Scalco made a move with Colombian Juan Felipe Rodriguez (EF Education-Aevolo). Rafferty was next on the road, with Joshua Golliker (EF Education-Aevolo); the British rider man-marking Rafferty for his Colombian team mate ahead.
“I just couldn’t stick to the pace of the Colombian EF guy and the Astana guy on that last climb,” Rafferty said. “But then I caught Rodriguez, with the other EF guy on my wheel the whole time… It’s understandable but still a bit annoying,” Rafferty laughed of Golliker sitting n him.
And that was the way it stayed, Scalco rode to the finish solo to win the stage and final yellow jersey. He was an impressive 59 seconds up on the three chasers sprinting for 2nd place. Rafferty won the three-up gallop from Rodriguez and Golliker.
Behind them, the other riders who they dropped on the final climb were caught by a group that included yellow jersey Rogers. The Australian was trying to come back to the front of the race with the help of his Ineos devo team mates, to no avail.
In the end, Rafferty was 2nd on GC and also 2nd in the young rider classification, some 1:05 down on Scalco, regarded as a real hope for Italy, especially as a stage race rider. Rodriguez, 3rd in the Colombian nationals this year behind Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), was 3rd on GC at 1:14.
“It was a fatiguing day. You had to be very switched on in your mind as well because there was always something happening,” said Rafferty of Sunday’s final stage. “But I’m happy. I was up against good competition today.
“It was basically me and one other (non-climber) and then just pure climbers. Obviously on the climbs I was at a disadvantage, but then I was really able to hurt them and take time on the flats under downhills. So, from that perspective, I raced well.”
He was also full of praise for his new Irish team mate, first-year U23 David Gaffney from Waterford, and for his British team mate, Ben Wiggins, who finished 10th on GC even though he is not regarded as a climber.
“I really like having David here,” Rafferty said. “It’s not only about having somebody from your country… You have the same thought processes, you’ve done the same races. He’s a quality bike rider. The stuff that he’s doing as a first year U23 is now light years ahead of what I was doing as a first year.”
He also pinpointed the performance of Wiggins has a big development for him.
“It was one of the biggest things I noticed from this race, I was thinking to myself ‘man that was impressive’. I mean, he is a classics rider and that was 3,000m of elevation today, he really held his own.”