Dan Martin finished second in the Tour of Lombardy at the weekend.
The Garmin-Cervélo rider jumped from 19th to ninth in the final World Tour standings, the best Irish showing since those rankings were introduced in 2005, and also pulled off the best Irish Classics performance since Sean Kelly won the same race two decades ago.
Martin was quickest of a five-man chase group which finished eight seconds behind the surprise winner, Oliver Zaugg (Leopard Trek).
The Swiss rider jumped clear on the final climb, with Martin leading the chase behind.
Cycling Ireland Chief Executive said,
“Dan’s superb performance plus the first and second places achieved by Nicolas Roche and Philip Deignan on the recent stage three in the Tour of Beijing ensures that Ireland end the season 13th overall in the WorldTour rankings. That will secure three places for the Olympic road race next summer when the UCI rankings list are published next month, with the possibility of a fourth”
