In just his first full season at WorldTour level Team Ineos has selected Eddie Dunbar to ride the Giro d'Italia which gets under on Saturday.
The Irish rider lit up the final stage of the Tour de Yorkshire into Leeds on Sunday; proving strongest of the select group at the end of 175km of racing.
And having had the legs to split the race, with only Olympic champion Greg van Avermaet and race winner Chris Lawless able to match him, Dunbar's progression as a rider has now been rewarded with a superb chance.
And given his form, he will be clear contender to try for a stage win at the three-week Giro d'Italia.
Dunbar is drafted into the team as Gianni Moscon isn't riding the race, though it was not immediately clear why his plans changed.
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Egan Bernal crashed and broke a collarbone out training on Saturday, creating another berth in the team, which has been taken by Ivan Sosa.
Bernal was set to lead Team Ineos at the Giro and was a hot favourite for the overall title.
In Bernal's absence Team Ineos has said Tao Geoghegan Hart (24) and Pavel Sivakov (21) will lead the team.
Geoghegan Hart won two stages of the recent Tour of the Alps and Sivakov won a stage and the overall title.
However, it is unlikely Geoghegan Hart or Sivakov would pose the same overall threat that Bernal would have.
And that will hopefully result in the other Team Ineos Giro riders getting a chance to try for stage wins.
If that proves to be the case for Dunbar - going into a Grand Tour in flying form and without a team leader that he must ride for fully - the race seems to present a golden opportunity for him.
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He had already ridden very well this season before his 3rd place finish on the final stage in Yorkshire and his 3rd place overall.
At the Tour de la Provence earlier in the year he made a small select group on each of the climbing stages and went on to take 7th overall.
However, the crucial aspect of his ride there was that he enjoyed protected rider status; the team working for him when it was clear he was strongest.
And again in Yorkshire, Team Ineos was willing protect Dunbar - with Froome and Lawless - so he could possibly try for his own result.
While Lawless expertly marked Van Avermaet when he went after Dunbar and so won the race, Eddie Dunbar went very close to winning stage and the overall.
One key concern some Irish cycling fans expressed when Dunbar joined Team Ineos - Team Sky as it was then - was that chances to ride for his own results may be very rare in that team.
However, that has not proven the case; thanks mainly to the fact Dunbar has already shown himself to be one of the strongest in the team.
And now he goes into the Giro, not just in great form, but in a line-up with no outstanding leader like Bernal, Chris Froome or Geraint Thomas.
It's an opportunity that could be the makings of his career and will see his profile in Ireland rise and spread well beyond the cycling fraternity.
Dunbar joins Conor Dunne in the Giro field; the Irish national road race champion riding for Israel Cycling Academy in the three-week race.
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