Alex Dowsett put on one of his best time trial performances in recent years at the UCI Road World Championships in Yorkshire, finishing fifth. The result earned Great Britain two time trial berths for next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo.

However, Dowsett, a time trial specialist, was cautious about his chances because of IOC rules that Olympic time trial spots can only be awarded to athletes who have also been selected for road racing.

"It's an Olympic possibility, but there's this ridiculous rule that you have to be part of the road race team for the Olympics as well.

"It certainly makes life difficult. It's like telling Usain Bolt, 'If you want to run 100m, you have to run 800m and 1500m too. It's a different sport. None of the guys who finished in the top 10 [in Wednesday's time trial] are going to be strong contenders for next year's road race." [Rohan Dennis (AUS) took the rainbow jersey, with Lemko Evenpor (BEL) and Filippo Ganna (ITA) occupying the remaining steps of the podium. Dowsett finished two minutes behind the winning time, but it was still a respectable performance and timed to many other world-class talents. This run will be food for thought by British Cycling when it comes to Olympic selection.

"We'll have to talk to British Cycling and see what we can do. I'm two minutes ahead of Rohan and one minute ahead of Lemko, he couldn't be any slower, but I've moved on," Dowsett added.

Dowsett's form has been on the up since the beginning of the summer. He was a valuable leader in the team time trial at the Tour de France when Katusha rode surprisingly strong. The Essex rider, when asked how his fifth place in Yorkshire placed him in his career, replied, "It was really good."

"It's definitely up there. I'm definitely in the top five, considering where I'm at now, with the stage wins in the Giro, the hour record, that comfortable hour record, etc.

"In the TT, I don't like to put my goals at the finish line because I want to win. But being realistic, I think a top-10 finish would be good. I'm just happy that everything worked out the way it did."

Dowsett was not the only British rider to perform well in Wednesday's time trial. The 28-year-old was a late call-up after Geraint Thomas did not join the team. Archibald set the best time early in the race, but then dropped back to 14th place.

"I felt good as far as riding and executing the plan and feeling good while riding. As far as the splits go, I wouldn't rate it too high, but looking back on that ride, I don't think there was anything I wanted to change drastically, so I'm pretty happy."