Lemko Evenpoel's victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège has earned him a spot as co-leader of the Belgian team with Wout van Aert at the UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia.

Evenepoel is currently away from racing after having raced for 26 days since early February. His attack at the top of the Côte de la Redoute and his solo run to victory in Liège on Sunday confirmed his talent after a roller-coaster year and a half following a crash and hip fracture on Il Lombardia.

The 22-year-old Belgian rider is not expected to compete in the Tour de France, and Quick-Step Alfa Vinyl is sticking to its original plan to head to Australia with the Vuelta a España as its goal.

Juan Art and Evenpoel are expected to finally reconcile in the coming weeks in order to build a strong Belgian contingent capable of winning a world title and moving on from last year's world championship debacle.

After initial tensions ran high at the Tokyo Olympics road race, doubts about whether Evenepaul would work for Van Aert drifted until just prior to their home world championships. The polemics exploded when leader Van Aert struggled at the end of the race, and Evenepoel, who had been in the breakaway from the beginning of the race, publicly stated that he had the legs to be a world champion. Even though Evenepoel did not show up for the team debriefing after the race, he promised to talk to Van Aert at some point.

The solo victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège elevated Evenpoel's standing in Belgium, and national coach Sven Van Torenhout said that Evenpoel, along with Van Aert, had achieved both Australian time trial and road race He revealed that he has achieved joint leader status. Dylan Toons' victory at La Flèche Wallonne and a strong spring campaign could protect him in the 270km elite men's road race in Wollongong.

"We will no longer go to the World Championships with Wout as the sole leader as we did last year, and if the two of them are at their current level in September, we can go to Australia with a strong team," Van Turenhout told Het Laatste Nieuws.

Vanthourenhout does not seem to mind the rivalry in the Belgian national team.

"I haven't talked to them yet about the World Championships in Australia, but I know that Lemko and Wout respect each other," he suggested.

Evenepoel will return to racing at the Tour of Norway at the end of May and will prepare for the Belgian national championships and then the Tour de Suisse. During the Tour de France, Evenepoel will spend most of July in the highlands of Livigno, preparing for the Vuelta a España, which starts August 19 in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

The Vuelta a España will close in Madrid on September 11, with the elite men's time trial one week later on Sunday, September 18. The road race will take place the following Sunday, September 25. Van Aert is likely to travel to Australia via Canada to compete in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec on September 9 and the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on September 11.