The Irish team was determined to "fight" for the European champion's jersey, or a medal, in the U23 road race in France rather than sitting in the bunch in the hopes of securing a top 10, Liam O'Brien has said.
In further remarks that reflect what should prove a seminal week for this generation of riders - the deepest pool of talent Irish cycling has ever had - O'Brien said he now goes into his final block of racing with a big confidence boost.
But, crucially, the reason for that was not just his own performance in the U23 road race - when he took on the select group with a big solo attack. He told stickybottle he, and the others on the Irish team, emerge from this week in the knowledge Ireland has won four medals at the Worlds and Europeans in seven days, which is unprecedented.
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"We went out fighting and we have to be happy with leaving it all out on the road," he said of his 15th place, after lighting it up in the select group. "I maybe could have gotten and top 10 by sitting in the bunch. But I think it's better to go out… fighting for a jersey and a medal rather than sitting in and waiting."
O'Brien continued: "I would have been nice to get a better result, of course, but… I was pretty happy with the performance, making the selection every time on the climb. And it was about being aggressive and showing the jersey, it was good to be there."
"We have to be happy with the way we raced as a team, Seth (Dunwoody) was super, and Adam (Rafferty). And the other lads all played their role along the way," he said of Killian O'Brien, Patrick Casey and Dean Harvey.
O'Brien was now looking forward to racing in Italy and Japan, with a confidence boost after four medals for Ireland in a week at the Worlds and Europeans.
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"It's been a good morale boost, and a motivation boost. It's a great start to the last block of racing for me because, overall, it's been such a good week for the Irish team. We had four major championships medal in a week…
"I would have liked to add to that, but we'll keep on fighting and eventually it will work out for us the U23s) eventually."
Of the race itself, O'Brien said the course was very hard, and is was well suited to him, given his climbing abilities. He was there when just 10 remained in the select group and attacked just before the last lap began.
He forged clear on his own and was only overhauled just before the top of the final climb. He agreed if he had made it over the top still leading - even alongside eventual winner Jarno Widar (Belgium) - he would have likely taken a medal.
"It was hard day, really though," he said. "I went just before the flamme rouge going onto the bell lap on the finish line, so about 21km to go. I built a good gap up to 45 seconds. And then I think the cohesion really came together behind. And coming onto the final climb the gap reduced quite some bit.
"On the climb I was caught by Jarno, about 500m from the top of the climb, and 6km from the finish. And then (I was caught) by the group and got gapped on the next kicker.
"It was disappointing to fade the last time up the climb, especially after a shorter race. But I went all in to just have a gap over the top of that climb and I could have been (in with) a real chance of a starry jersey."
