The demands grow with the triumphs.

Remco Evenepoel had just completed the last kilometers of the Tour of Spain and put on the overall leader's red jersey on the Paseo del Prado in the heart of Madrid when his eyes were already wandering to the future.

"The red jersey here gives me self-confidence," he said. "My dream is to win all three." Boom, that was it.

In all the words of thanks, this young Belgian placed the next declaration of war.

Judging by his impressions of the past three weeks in Spain, his dream could come true.

A new player in the tour business

Because Evenepoel proved in only his second Grand Tour class in several disciplines.

He was strong in the time trial.

He varied cleverly between defensive and offensive mode in the mountains.

The athlete, previously accused of being an egoist, ensured a good atmosphere in the team and proved to be a leader despite being only 22 years old.

He also redeemed the Belgian cycling nation from the trauma of not having won a Grand Tour for 44 years.

That's quite a lot for a boy who only played football six years ago.

Evenepoel only turned up the heat when it went into the Basque mountains.

He crowned his performance with a superior victory in the time trial.

He gained 48 seconds on Primoz Roglic, Olympic champion in this discipline.

After that, Evenepoel's class consisted of enduring setbacks.

He only fell on the twelfth stage.

Then the injuries in the mountain stages in the Sierra de La Pandera and the Sierra Nevada made things difficult for him.

He lost time to almost all of his direct competitors, but kept the gap within limits.

"Here he won the Vuelta because the others couldn't get a decisive lead," analyzed former Tournament winner Alberto Contador.

It is precisely this mix of physical prowess and mental toughness that makes Evenepoel a candidate for further tour adventures.

Two-time Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar takes on the Belgian as a serious opponent.

"I'm looking forward to meeting him at the next Tour de France," said the Slovenian.

Evenepoel's racing team manager Patrick Lefevere was also looking forward to the future.

"Hopefully this is the start of something awesome," he said of his team's first-ever Grand Tour win in its 20-year history.

With Evenepoel and Quick Step there is a new player in the tour business.