Two years after missing gold by just 0.48 seconds in the under 23 world time trial championships, Ryan Mullen once again excelled on the world stage when he finished fifth in the elite race.

The first year professional was a longtime leader of the race against the clock in Qatar on Wednesday and while a wave of bigger names came towards the end, he beat many established time trialists.

He ultimately finished fifth, one minute 22 seconds behind the winner Tony Martin. The German beat last year's champion Vasil Kiryienka (Belarus) by 46 seconds and Jonathan Castroviejo (Spain) by one minute 11. It was his fourth world title.

Mullen was elated by the result. “I don’t really know what happened today! Ryan Mullen doesn’t get fifth in the world, just 11 seconds off a medal!” he said afterwards. “I’m in disbelief, that’s really good and I just hope I can keep progressing at this level.”

Mullen is still just 22 years of age and has huge potential. In fact, he was still eligible to ride the Under-23 event and could well have won had he done so. Elite world time trial championships, Doha, Qatar: 1, Tony Martin (Germany) 40 kilometres in 44 minus 2 secs; 2, V. Kiryienka (Belarus) at 46 secs; 3, J. Castroviejo (Spain) at 1 min 11 secs; 4, M. Bodnar (Poland) at 1 min 17 secs; 5, R. Mullen (Ireland) at 1 min 22 secs; 6, R. Dennis (Australia) at 1 min 28 secs. Other: 30, N Roche (Ireland) at 3 mins 17.57 secs