A fantastic first day of competition at the UEC European Road Cycling Championships in Drôme Ardéche, France, saw two Irish riders grace podiums in two separate events.
Two-time Junior National Time Trial Champion Conor Murphy took second place in the Junior Men’s Individual Time Trial, just 4.6 seconds behind the recently crowned Junior World Champion Michiel Mouris of the Netherlands. Murphy led at all three splits over the 24km course, losing the lead in the last section.
Murphy’s team-mate David Gaffney finished just outside the top-10 in 11th, with Matthew Walls rounding out the Irish contingent in this category in 22nd.
Reigning U23 TT National Champion Adam Rafferty took the bronze medal in the U23 Men’s European Championships, again over 24km. Rafferty took third behind two Belgian riders, Jonathan Vervenne in first and Matisse Van Kerckhove in second, with just 6 seconds separating the top 3.
Irish rider Seth Dunwoody continued his strong year, taking 16th in this morning’s TT.
Rafferty’s younger sister Aliyah was also in action this morning. The reigning Junior Road Race and TT National Champion took home 22nd in the Junior Women’s race.
Ireland’s Lucy Benezét Minns rode in the U23 Women’s event, with the 2024 Junior Track European Champion taking 25th.
All of these riders, plus the rest of the twenty-strong team, are in action again this weekend.
