Darren Rafferty was just five seconds away from claiming a podium finish at the U23 world championships time trial in Scotland.
Taking place over a fast 36.2km course around Stirling, riders took on a final 800m that featured a tough climb with a cobbled section until the finish line at the gates to the scenic Stirling Castle.
Among the early starters, Rafferty set a consistent pace throughout and was provisionally in fifth place at the first checkpoint after just under 13km.
With every intermediate checkpoint, he solidified his place among the top contenders. A late surge in the final kilometres saw him fight his way onto a provisional podium.
And after a frantic rush to take his place on the podium hot seat, Rafferty sat alongside eventual winner Lorenzo Milesi before two late finishers saw him finish in 5th place in the official results.
An impressive time of 43:56.37 saw him finish just 5.22 seconds away from a bronze medal and just +56.01 from gold amongst the world's best.
"I think I got everything right on the day," said Rafferty. "It’s a great course and it was nice to test myself against the best. I had a good day; everything went to plan, and I just didn’t have enough legs for the medal. Nothing went wrong and I have to be happy with where I finished.
"It was a super hard course; it was great to have my family over and the atmosphere was unbelievable. The climb at the end was a bit of a brutal one but I’m glad it’s over now and onto the road race on Saturday.
"(I was on the hot seat) for a couple of minutes, but I knew it wasn’t going to last long in third spot! It’s always nice to get up there for a few minutes. I have a nice easy day tomorrow to meet up with the rest of the team (U23 men’s road race team) and hopefully I’ll have some good legs on the circuit in Glasgow."
Dean Harvey was also among the earlier starters and got the day off to a strong start as he finished fourth provisionally, with his time of 45:08.13 setting an early benchmark for much of the field.
Harvey's final two intermediate splits saw him gain some time on those around him in the standings and he placed 19th in the final standings after an excellent ride.
Both Rafferty and Harvey will be part of the Ireland team riding in the U23 road race on Saturday, which also includes Odhran Doogan, Aaron Wade and Jamie Meehan.
