For 21.1km during Liège-Bastogne-Liège, rising superstar Paul Seixas perhaps gave everyone a look at the future of cycling as he matched the brutal attacks of Tadej Pogačar on La Redoute and threatened to undo the World Champion's apparent invincibility uphill.
Seixas was talked up massively in the build-up as the main challenger to three-time Liège winner Pogačar, even in just his second-ever Monument appearance, but his absolute domination of Itzulia Basque Country and impressive victory at La Flèche Wallonne had warranted the hype.
And he lived up to it on the 260km of Sunday's race, putting his team to work to help UAE bring back the massive early break, which contained Remco Evenepoel, before getting himself into prime position on Pogačar's wheel during the fast and furious run to the foot of Redoute.
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It was here that he would confirm his promise, gritting his teeth and rocking his bike to dare and try and follow Pogačar, something which no one else either could, or as Evenepoel admitted, wanted to attempt, knowing it would surely end in them quickly cracking.
"As I always say, I start a race to win it, but we know that Tadej Pogačar has been dominant these last few years. Just being able to follow him is already something," said Seixas in his post-race press conference, as reported by L'Equipe.
"You have to know how to take things one step at a time without rushing. At Strade Bianche, I wasn't able to follow his first attack; today, I managed to. I'm happy with my performance. And above all, I'm thinking about the great work of the team.
"At Strade, I found myself a bit isolated; I wasn't able to be on his wheel when he attacked. Today, I was perfectly on his wheel on the Redoute climb, and that's what allowed me to hang on at the top. I was really giving it my all, and being on his wheel is something else…"
Ultimately, Seixas was finally dropped on the Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons when Pogačar violently moved away from him in the saddle and rode solo to the finish with 13.9km to go, crossing the line 45 seconds in front of the Frenchman, who is doing things at 19 years old that even the Slovenian wasn't capable of.
"I was absolutely exhausted on La Redoute; the speed we were going was mind-blowing. I wondered how much longer we could keep it up; it was an insane pace. After that, it didn't take much for me to crack at the top; I was completely spent," said the young star, who even said his vision went blurry due to the Redoute effort.
He then admitted that the reason he helped pull on the front once they got away was due to not wanting to risk a tactical game in the finale.
"I hung on as best I could. And it felt good to be able to take turns at the front with him; we built up the necessary lead to go all the way. And it came down to the pedals on the Roche-aux-Faucons; he was stronger today.
"It was a head-to-head battle that we both expected. I didn't want to play games, hanging on by taking shorter turns and risking annoying him and letting the others catch up. It's just power that I'm lacking today."
Pogačar was impressed, and admitted after the brutal day that he had already been thinking about how he was going to play the sprint in Liège, recognising the strength of his rapidly-emerging rival.
After the line, they embraced with full respect, and Seixas was heard on the cameras saying, "I was burning, burning in your wheel." He'd risked a lot trying to go for the win, but we should come to expect nothing less of the ambitious Frenchman, who has the talent to back it up.
"We both said it was a very tough day. I told him he really pushed me to my limits from the start at La Redoute onwards," said Seixas.
"He was glad to know it had hurt me because it had hurt him, too. He's always impressive; he was the strongest today, and you have to respect that."
What Seixas also did was confirm to himself that the Monuments are certainly for him, so the versatility of Pogačar, unseen for around 50 years for a top GC star, seems to be a trait that the 19-year-old also possesses, although he knows the road to being in the same conversation as his contemporary is still a long one.
"I wasn't that far off from being able to overtake him. There's still a lot of work to do, that's normal, there are steps to take. Today, it was really a duel of brute strength," he said. "Having the stamina, yes, that always helps, having experience helps, but the race wasn't very complicated in terms of how it unfolded.
"I did well at the Tour of Lombardy over the long distance, but it was still a question mark whether I could compete at the front in a Monument. I've really taken a step forward in terms of endurance. The difficulty of the race suits me. I think I've made a real breakthrough in that respect."
Speaking after the race, Pogačar said that he will be expecting to see his new rival come the start of the Tour de France in Barcelona on July 4: "I think we will see him in the Tour because he's such a big talent, so I think France can be happy with how he rides."
Seixas obviously wasn't going to confirm anything at the end of such an exhausting day, but did reveal that the decision will be coming soon, as was planned.
"I'm going to have a discussion with the team next week to establish a program, and that should be settled next week," he said. "For now, I don't know my next race."
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