Rafferty brothers join exclusive World Tour club

EDENDORK’S Rafferty brothers, Darren and Adam, joined an exclusive club last week when they became the first Irish brothers since the Roache’s, Stephen and Laurence in 1991 to race on World Tour events at the same time.

Darren and Adam achieved the feat for two different teams – EF Education-EasyPost and Team Jayco AlUla respectively – and at two different events.

Twenty-one-year-old Darren, who is in his second year with EF Education-Easy Post, raced in Volta Ciclista a Catalunya (2.UWT), while younger brother, 19-year-old Adam made his debut for Team Jayco AlUla after being promoted for the Coppi e Bartalim (2.1) from the Hagens Berman Jayco development team.

That achievement of Irish brothers racing in World Tour events at the same time has only ever been seen once before when Dublin’s Roache family witnessed it when Stephen and Laurence rode for Tonton Tapis-GB in 1991.

And Darren, who made his Grand Tour debut at La Vuelta last year, admits that while it was nice for them to achieve that particular feat, he was just pleased for his brother to get the opportunity to sample life at the top level.

“It’s cool that Adam got a chance. It was a cool thing to read [about the Roaches and themselves], but I’m just happy that he got the chance to race and to see what it’s like,” he said.

“It’s cool and it’s obviously nice that we’re both reaching that level where were both racing for teams at the highest level, that it can be a job and for Adam to get a taste of that, that sensation, which will definitely drive him on another bit.

“Some people like the football references, but it’s like if you get to go and do trials with Premier League teams, you’re not going to want to play League One or Championship after that, so I think it’s good from that point of view.”

While neither brother had the opportunity to achieve general classification results, having been employed as grafters for their team-mates in each race, Darren admits that at this stage in their careers, that’s par for the course.

“Both of us were in a similar role, helping the team,” he explained. “For me, we had one sprinter and then [Richard] Carapaz for GC, and he finished 10th and we had a sprinter top 10 on three days, so it was about helping.

“The results don’t look good on paper but everything has been going pretty well. At this level, you do the role that you’re asked to do and obviously the team are happy if you do what you’re told.

“But it’s been good.”

With that in mind, Darren’s goals for the 2025 season are similar to last year when he was rewarded with his Grand Tour debut at La Vuelta.

“That’s hopefully the goal going forward [to race at at least one Grand Tour race this year],” he said from his team’s altitude training base in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

“It’s about taking another step up, showing that you’re making progress. Sometimes it feels like you aren’t making any and then other times it feels like you have made lots.

“But it’s about working hard and hopefully the results start to stack up a bit but it’s not always that simple.”