Less than an hour after Martyn Irvine took a silver medal for Ireland in the scratch race at the World Track Championships in Cali, Colombia, in the early hours of this morning, Ryan Mullen took to the boards looking to carve his own name into the history books.
The 19-year-old, riding his first elite Worlds, had secured a place in the ride off for bronze in the individual pursuit when he was fourth quickest of the 20-man field in qualifying earlier in the day.
It was a remarkable achievement but perhaps not one that would hugely surprise those people who have watched the progression of Mullen's career in recent years; from a top junior road time trialist to 7th in the U23 test at the World Road Championships last year.
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Mullen is also National U23 TT Champion, has a number of elite track titles to his name and is now riding for the An Post-Chainreaction team.
He was quickest of the entire field over the opening 2km of the 4km individual pursuit in qualifying. And though his opponent for the last medal, Marc Ryan of New Zealand, was faster over the 4kms in qualifying hopes were high Mullen may take him in the battle for bronze.
However, the Irish man started slowly last night, losing a lot of ground to the Kiwi in the first half of the race. He pegged that back almost completely later, though Marc Ryan simply found another gear and ended up a clear winner.
But while he missed out on a bronze in his first elite track Worlds, one feels Mullen will go better on many occasions in the years to come.
Have a look at the video about; it's an exciting race.
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