Liam O'Brien went into Ronde de l'Isard as part of a very strong Lidl Trek Future Racing line-up and has emerged from it among the very best riders on the U23 scene.
His 2nd place overall, in what is one of the hardest U23 races in the world, was the best quality result of his fledgling career. But the manner he achieved it was more impressive, especially given the identity of some of those who couldn't hold O'Brien on the biggest mountain when the Irishman took control.
And as Irish riders like Ben Healy, Darren Rafferty and Archie Ryan have all progressed to the World Tour ranks after impressive tenures as U23 riders, 20-year-old O'Brien is now looks certain to follow in their footsteps.
On today's final stage, of five - some 150km from Saubens to Saint-Girons - O'Brien and the other main general classification men all finished in the reduced 40-strong peloton, sprinting for 4th place just behind three breakaway riders.
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The stage victory went to Victor Jean (CC Étupes) in a three-up sprint, with Yoan Morin (Bourg-en-Bresse Ain Cyclisme) and Clément Sanchez (Vendée U Pays de la Loire) completing an all-French podium on the stage.
O'Brien was 37th today, in that group 19 seconds down on the trio battling for stage honours. Compatriot, and first-year U23 rider, Killian O'Brien (Petrolike) finished in 85th at 8:17. Though Liam O'Brien took all the headlines in recent days, Killian O'Brien was making his debut in a race carrying the prestige of Ronde de l'Isard (UCI 2.2U).
And his final placing of 46th overall - from 135 starters of 20 nationalities - was more than solid. It is a very useful benchmark for him going forward, especially considering he missed the first part of the season through injury.
For Liam O'Brien, the significance of his performance over the last five days could not be overstated. On Saturday's summit finish queen stage he attacked with 5km to go, leading the race solo before Colombia’s Juan Felipe Rodriguez (Team Sistecredito) got across, and then beat him in the two-up sprint for stage victory.
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That performance lifted O'Brien from 5th overall to 2nd after a day when he put perhaps the best U23 in the world - race leader Jarno Widar (Lotto Development Team) - on the ropes, dropping him.
O'Brien forced Widar to dig deep to the keep the leader's jersey, which he kept from the Irish rider by just seven seconds when he finished 3rd on the stage; a battling rider in severe pressure, to be fair to him.
The fact O'Brien was able to put so much pressure on Widar, who was unable to live with the Irishman, was perhaps the most significant feature of this race for the Irish rider. Widar is tipped, with very good reason, to be the next Remco Evenepoel. He certainly looks likely to become a major challenge for Belgium in pro stage races and classics.
He was 2nd overall at Ronde de l'Isard last year as a first-year U23 and since then has won: Alpes Isère Tour (2.2), Giro d'Italia Next Gen (2.2U) and two stages, Giro Valle d'Aosta-Mont Blanc (2.2U) and a stage, Liège-Bastogne-Liège MU (1.2U) and Flèche Ardennaise (1.2).
In short, he is always a rider dictating things at major stage races and one-day events and he has already won many of the big ones. But he was unable to live with former Fermoy CC rider O'Brien when he attacked on Saturday on the cat 1 Pla de Soulcem.
And on Friday's stage, O'Brien went up the road for 20km just so he could take three seconds at an intermediate sprint. The fact he was able to ride of the front for that long, some of it on his own, in a race of this repute to grab some seconds suggests this event was well within his capabilities and he is already ready for a lot more.
He finishes this race 2nd, some seven seconds down on Widar. The rest of the season - and the years ahead - look very bright indeed for Cork's O'Brien. Lidl Trek, and Ireland, has a very good one on their hands.
