Despite citing the opportunity to see the world as one of the most appealing aspects of his profession, it was witnessing one of cycling’s biggest events on his very own doorstep that solidified in Darren Rafferty’s mind that he wanted to pursue a career in the sport.
The 21-year-old has been selected by his EF Education-EasyPost team to ride La Vuelta which begins in Lisbon on Saturday, his first ever Grand Tour a significant landmark for the county Tyrone man.
Having stood on the streets as an engrossed fan when the Giro d’Italia came to Northern Ireland in 2014, he can appreciate the enormity of now taking part in one of cycling’s big three races.
“I think the big thing that took me to cycling was just seeing the opportunities that you could do in this sport, say, compared to the swimming or at the football club,” he told BBC Radio Ulster.
“I went to the European Youth Olympics in Azerbaijan when I was only 15. That was a realisation.
“I could have been playing football 10 miles from the house, maybe getting down to Dublin.
“To be able to go and travel the world, in a sport that allows me to see so much, it was a switch that allowed me to see that I could do it as a job.”
Rafferty will be riding the Vuelta in support of his team-mate Richard Carapaz of Ecuador, an Olympic gold medallist in Tokyo and King of the Mountains at the Tour de France last month.
Delighted to assist the efforts of someone he describes as his team’s “main man”, especially in his first season on the world tour, he acknowledged team hierarchies are something those unfamiliar with the sport may struggle to understand.
“This is the big thing where it’s hard to see,” he said. “The top 10% are just at another level.
“All of these people that you see working for their leader, they grew up being winners as well. They are extremely talented in their own right, have won a lot of races at youth or junior level.
“But at the very, very top, these exceptional riders are working for the world class of the world class in the team.
“It’s everyone else’s job to get around them as best they can.
“There is a lot of sacrifice from many riders on every team.”
‘There is no better job in the world’
Sacrifice is nothing new to those in the peloton of course, and while Rafferty is already accustomed to what it takes to compete at the top level, he appreciates it is the price you pay for what he sees as his dream job.
“You have to be pretty good with being away from home, not seeing people all the time.
“I think the sacrifice is probably the hardest bit, especially with diet. You’re not going to be drinking alcohol, you’re eating healthy 90 percent of the time and you’re living out of a suitcase for 80 percent of the year. It adds up, but for me there is no better job in the world.
“It’s what I’ve grown up doing for free and now I do it for a job.
“A lot of people, any kind of sport that they’re into, if they could get paid to do it, they would quit their day job in the morning.
“I love it and it’s really starting to pay off now. Hopefully I’m going to enjoy the next few years of life as a cyclist.”
‘Tour de France always the dream’
Buoyed by his team’s show of faith at such a young age, Rafferty will be riding the three-week Vuelta when previously his longest race has been nine days.
Knowing that experience counts, he is hoping to show that he is ready for even more in the years to come, including the pinnacle for any cyclist.
“The Tour de France is always the dream,” he said.
“I was always that person growing up that was watching the tour on tv.
“Almost every person on the planet has heard of it or watched a stage of it.
“It’s the biggest and best race you can be a part of. If I could do the Tour within the next three years, that would be unbelievable.”