It was at the start of a training camp, high in the Italian Alps, last week that Cadel Evans was struck deepest by his teammates' loyalty and belief that he has what it takes to become the first Australian winner of the world's greatest cycling race — the Tour de France.
The six-day camp, which included rides up the tortuous Stelvio Pass — at 2757 metres, one of the highest paved roads in Europe — had long been pencilled into Evans' calendar as the last hard slog before the tour that starts today in the coastal town of Brest in Brittany.
The 31-year-old Victorian knew it would be a punishing last touch to his training, considering it followed his final lead-up race in the French Alps — the Dauphine Libere, where he finished in second place overall.
But he was not ready for the response from his Silence-Lotto teammates, who will sweat and bleed for him for the next three weeks, when he handed them an open invitation to join him at the camp if they so wished.
Having ridden so strongly all season and with some of them having just finished the 10-day, mountainous Tour of Switzerland, the last thing Evans expected was the turn-out he got. Only two teammates were missing from the nine, who will be among the 180 riders from 20 teams in the 3560-kilometre French tour, which will follow a clockwise route over 21 stages to its end in Paris on July 27.
One of them was Belgian Leif Hoste, who is not a climber and was in desperate need of the rest if he was to be fully fit for the tour. The other absentee was Queensland sprinter Robbie McEwen.
McEwen, who until now has enjoyed the team's full backing at Evans' cost, must race unprotected to add to his 10 tour stage wins, or claim a fourth green jersey as the team goes all out to help Evans. He would also have cruelled his chances of achieving either goal by riding endlessly over mountains.
"I didn't ask (them to come). I just said to the guys that I am having a training camp," Evans said. "It was not obligatory for everyone to come. But everyone except Leif (and McEwen) came, which I understand. Some raced in the Tour of Switzerland and two who did still came, which was a surprise."
One who did was Belgian rider Wim Vansevenant, 36, who is not a climber, can only boast three wins in a career that spans 13 years and is racing in his last of five tours in which he has twice placed last.
"I know he is motivated, but to see him do everything he possibly can to be the best he can after racing in the Tour of Switzerland was a bit of bonding experience," Evans said.
Evans admits that this season so far he has found it difficult to stop his teammates from busting their guts for his cause, rather than race for their own interests at a time when they would be allowed to.
Evans has already won a stage of the Ruta del Sol in Spain, Paris-Nice in France (on the famed Mont Ventoux) and the Coppi e Bartali in Italy, where he also took the overall title. He was also second in Fleche-Wallone and the Dauphine Libere stage race and seventh in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic.
Evans does not conceal his belief that his successes are due to his teammates having shown a total change in their mindset before facing the biggest challenge — winning the tour's fabled yellow jersey.
"I kept saying (to them) at the start of the year, 'Take it easy until we ride the tour'," Evans said. "But they kept saying, 'We would rather ride for you because you keep getting the results you have got'. So I was more than happy to try and finish off the job for them.
"There is a real team spirit (within Silence-Lotto), which doesn't happen everywhere …"
Having unwavering collective support in a tour team is vital for overall contenders. But it has not been easy for Evans to earn it. It took his eighth on a tour debut in 2005, fourth in 2006 and a first Australian podium finish of second last year to Spaniard Alberto Contador by the second-narrowest margin of 23 seconds.
Now he has it, it could be the change in Silence-Lotto that makes a difference.
Six of Evans' team were in last year's line-up. Five of the nine are also climbers, so their ability to help Evans in the mountains, where he was often isolated should increase with their new motivation.
Evans has wisely refused to debate the failure of Contador and his new Astana team to be invited to the tour due to the squad's past involvement in doping issues when under different managements.
While he is the outright favourite in Contador's absence and will wear No. 1 throughout the tour, he knows that there is still plenty of danger lurking in the form of rival contenders and plain old misfortune.
Evans has done all he can to cover every scenario within his control. And that goes beyond his training camps and changes of the team's mindset and backing. It includes recruiting Ukranian Yaroslav Popovych, a former teammate of Contador and seven-time winner Lance Armstrong, best young rider in 2005 and placed eighth overall last year.
He has worked on his big strength, time-trialling — on his position and creation of a new bike. He has dealt with and recovered from tendonitis in his knee, which fleetingly placed his tour start in doubt when the pain flared while training in the Sierra Nevada of Spain.
He has also shown in races this year that he is prepared to attack more often, as he will have to in a tour that is set to be more aggressively raced.
The abolition of time bonuses on stage finishes will likely prompt more attacks as riders must fight for real time gains.
Evans' team has also recruited a personal chef to ensure his diet is healthy, tailored to his needs and, most importantly, not spiked. He will also have a personal bodyguard.
But what Evans cannot guarantee is avoiding a tour-ending crash. Nor can he effect the form or prepare himself for the tactics and the cunning of his rivals for victory, such as Spaniards Alejandro Valverde and Carlos Sastre, Italian Damiano Cunego, Russian Denis Menchov and Luxembourg's Kim Kirchen and Schleck brothers — Frank and Andy.
But he can try, as he said when asked if he has one fear: "There are always concerns. There is a lot that can go wrong. (You) plan everything you can to be prepared for them."