Ducati's long-awaited announcement of its full works line-up for the 2021 season finally arrived on Wednesday morning after the Italian marque delayed it from last weekend to "leave the stage clear" for Yamaha, Petronas SRT and Valentino Rossi to make public their 2021 MotoGP plans.
But it came as no surprise that Ducati had selected Francesco Bagnaia to step up to its works squad next year alongside current Pramac team-mate Jack Miller, taking the place of the outgoing Andrea Dovizioso.
With that, it feels very much like the changing of the guard at Ducati. Dovizioso's efforts on the Desmosedici and his ability to help develop it from paddock joke to a championship-challenging weapon can never be understated.