Adam Rafferty delivered a composed and consistent ride to finish 10th in the men’s under-23 individual time trial at the 2026 UCI Road World Championships in Montréal, giving Ireland another strong result against the clock on the second day of the championships.
Adam Rafferty produced a strong ride to finish 10th in the men’s under-23 individual time trial at the 2026 UCI Road World Championships in Montréal today, while teammate Seth Dunwoody battled through adversity after an early crash to complete the 31.3km course.
Ryan Gal of the Netherlands claimed the rainbow jersey, clocking 37:26.16. Nicolas Milesi of Italy took silver just seven seconds back, with Héctor Álvarez of Spain securing bronze a further few seconds adrift.
Rafferty finished 56.89 seconds off the winning time to place tenth in a high-quality field of 72 riders from 49 nations.
Rafferty continues strong season against the clock
The Hagens Berman Jayco rider built on an impressive 2026 campaign that included second place on the final individual time trial stage of the Giro Next Gen (Baby Giro) and seventh overall in the general classification of that prestigious under-23 stage race.
Rafferty also added another Irish under-23 national time trial title to his collection earlier this year, underlining his consistency against the clock.
His performance in Montréal delivered a solid top-ten result on the international stage and provided a positive note for Irish cycling on the second day of the championships.
Rafferty’s excellent 10th place sits favourably in Ireland’s U23 Worlds ITT history, matching the top-ten finish he recorded in Zürich two years ago and ranking among the strongest Irish results in the event’s three-decade existence.
Only a handful of Irish riders have broken into the top ten: Eddie Dunbar‘s 9th place in 2016, Darren Rafferty‘s 6th place in 2014, with the standout remaining Ryan Mullen’s silver medal in 2014.
Dunwoody shows resilience after early setback
Seth Dunwoody’s participation itself represented a significant achievement. The Bahrain Victorious Development Team rider had been dealing with an injury in the lead-up to the World Championships, with his start in serious doubt until recently.
Simply lining up felt like a victory, and he approached the race with nothing to lose after pushing hard to get into shape, he explained in an interview after the finish.
An early crash today forced a bike change to his ordinary road race bike after assistance from the Irish team car. Bike racing for you!
To his credit, Dunwoody continued and finished the course in 56th place, more than five and a half minutes behind the winner.
I’m not too hurt but obviously once you get here, and you push your body so hard,that hurts a little bit to crash so early on.
But for sure I’ll keep going.
– Seth Dunwoody
While naturally disappointed with his afternoon, the 2026 Irish Elite & U23 Men’s Road Race Champion emphasised that setbacks on the bike pale in comparison to real life challenges in reference to the tragic death of Shane O’Brien earlier this year.
That mindset helped him push on rather than abandon. Looking forward to seeing the 2026 Irish National Road Race Champion back in action on Friday 25th.
Ryan Mullen in the elite time trial
In the elite men’s individual time trial the previous day, Ryan Mullen finished 36th over the longer 39.2km course.
The experienced Irish time trial specialist, a multiple national champion, completed the effort 3:48 behind winner Remco Evenepoel, who claimed a historic fourth consecutive rainbow jersey in the discipline. Filippo Ganna of Italy took silver and Paul Seixas of France bronze.
What’s next at the World Championships
Next up are our Irish Junior’s in their ITTs tomorrow, Tuesday 22nd September. 17-year-old Freddie Winkley is first into action at 18:12:00 (Irish Time), followed by Emer Heverin much later in the evening at 21:07:30 (Irish Time).
Irish interest will continue with
- Men’s Junior Road Race Thursday 24th, 18:30 (Irish Time) – Freddie Winkley, Rían McCrystal, and Hugh Óg Mulhearne.
- Men’s U23 Road Race Friday 25th, 14:00 (Irish Time) – Adam Rafferty, David Gaffney, Seth Dunwoody, Liam O’Brien.
- Women’s Junior Road Race Friday 25th, 19:15 (Irish Time) – Emer Heverin.
- Men’s Elite Road Race Sunday 27th, 18:30 (Irish Time) – Ben Healy, Darren Rafferty, Jamie Meehan, Ryan Mullen.
