He may not be a household name in cycling - not yet anyway - but the winner of the final stage at Rás Tailteann, 22-year-old Josh Charlton, is the second fastest rider of all time in the individual pursuit on the track.
Only one rider has ever gone faster; Jonathan Milan of Lidl Trek and Italy. Indeed, when Milan broke the world record at the World Track Championships last year, it was Charlton's record he broke.
Charlton set a new world record of 3:59.304 at the Worlds in Ballerup, Denmark, last year taking over three tenths of a second off Filippo Ganna's time, set at the Worlds two years earlier.
Then Milan got up onto the track, after Charlton's record-breaking ride in qualifying, and clocked 3:59.153 to set a new world record.
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Charlton ended those Worlds with the silver medal and though he was disappointed not to win gold - especially having broken the world record - he really announced himself with that performance. He also won another silver, in the team pursuit, at the Worlds in Denmark.
And since then, he has won gold and silver at the European Track Championships in the individual pursuit and team pursuit respectively. That silverware came at the Europeans held in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, in February of this year.
Charlton was also successful on the track as junior and U23 rider for Great Britain. In 2023 at the U23 Europeans he won gold in the team pursuit and silver in the individual pursuit. And at the junior Europeans in 2021 he claimed gold in the madison and team pursuit and bronze on the individual pursuit.
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The young British rider was part of a Great Britain national team on the Rás this week comprised of track endurance riders. Having gotten some really hard miles into their legs over the last five days in Ireland, they are now bound for an altitude camp as they ready themselves for their goals ahead.
Charlton, who has ridden for the St Piran and Trinity Racing British-registered UCI Continental team in the past, claimed the final stage of the Rás today in very impressive fashion. Even though it was a windy day, he attacked solo from a breakaway that was more than one minute up the road.
He then put the head down and rode solo all the way to the finish in Bective, holding off the front section of the peloton by 58 seconds; a really significant margin, especially as the bunch swallowed up the breakaway Charlton had attacked from.
However, though Charlton's track results are much better than his results on the road, he has represented Great Britain on the road, including to World Championships level. And he has also ridden major pro stage races such as the Tour of Britain.
He was U23 national TT champion in Britain two years ago and went on to ride the Worlds that year - a home Worlds for him. He finished in 6th place in the U23 TT in Stirling, just one place behind Ireland's Darren Rafferty, currently riding the Giro for EF Education-EasyPost.
Given his pedigree - especially his ability against the watch - Charlton was probably the last man in the entire field the breakaway should have let go up the road solo today.
However, at the end of such a very hard race - with fatigue setting in and others riding for GC - Charlton launched a blistering attack and had the legs to take it all the way home.
