Remco Evenepoel may be working for one of the most forthright managers in pro cycling in Patrick Lefevere, but the 22-year-old has clearly secured significant power in his team based on his performances in 2022 and his potential to progress even further.
Lefevere and the other stakeholders in the team have agreed to allow Evenepoel pick most of the Soudal-QuickStep line-up for the Giro d'Italia, with the world champion saying he will select riders who he deems fit the bill and are up to the task.
Obviously his name is first on the team sheet, leaving seven other riders to be selected. Evenepoel has been granted permission to pick five while Lefevere and the others in team management will pick the remaining two between them.
The dynamic is a mark of just how desperate Lefevere is to keep his young star, especially after strongly hinting Evenepoel's contract is tilted towards performance bonuses, rather than a large base salary. Ineos Grenadiers has also been flirting with the idea of signing him, with Soudal-QuickStep unable to compete with the British squad on financial terms alone.
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However, the arrangement for the Giro means two riders on the team will know they were passed over by the team's leader for selection. It also means Evenepoel is set to become much more powerful than any other rider in the team - and most of the management line-up - going forward.
“I have my say on three quarters of the team. Two of the eight places in the team are determined by the team management and Patrick Lefevere," Evenepoel told Belgium's VTM. "That's based on the individual programs throughout the season and also seeing who fits in best and who is willing and able to go.
"I want to win at least one stage, preferably one of the three time trials," he added. "I'd also like to win a mountain stage, so that's two stage wins. And then I'm aiming for the top three in the general classification, a place on the podium.
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"The Giro is a completely different race. The mountains on the route have their own characteristics. You always have to be realistic, and I think that a podium finish in a Grand Tour is already a great achievement."
Looking further ahead, he said when he goes to the World Championships in Glasgow next year he is likely to focus more on winning the TT than defending the road race crown he won in Wollongong, Australia, this year.
Evenepoel enjoyed an incredible 2022; winning La Vuelta, the World Championships and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, among 16 victories. The manner of his wins at the Worlds and LBL really underlined his abilities, claiming both with long-range solo attacks that nobody else could cope with.
However, at La Vuelta his main rival, Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma), went into the race in a weakened state having crashed out of the Tour de France in mid July. He did not race again until the start of the Spanish Grand Tour and took more than a week to ride himself into condition.
While Evenepoel outclassed the Slovenian for almost all of the first two weeks of the race, Roglič dropped him twice in the high mountains as the third week began. However, Roglič then crashed - and was forced to abandon - while gaining more time on the young Belgian on stage 16.
And while Evenepoel looked very impressive winning the overall, questions remain about his ability to beat a fully fit Roglič in a Grand Tour and, especially, riders like Tour winners Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) and Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).
Giro 2023 is shaping up for a fantastic general classification battle, perhaps the best for years, as Evenepoel will face Roglič again, as well as riders like Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-hansgrohe).
Irish fans will be behind Eddie Dunbar as the Cork man will lead his new team, Jayco AlUla, in the race. It will be the first time he will have leadership in a Grand Tour. It will also be Dunbar's first Grand Tour since his debut back in 2019, when he rode the Giro with Team Sky.
