In 2014 Daniel Moreno and Joaquim Rodriguez will ride fewer races together as the Katusha team wants to give Moreno more of a leadership role. When Moreno last tried his hand as a team leader, he had little success but his team is convinced that he can benefit from more responsibility.

In the professional cycling world Daniel Moreno and Joaquim Rodriguez are joined at the hip. The Katusha pair are mostly riding together, have a similar build and share many of the same characteristics.

In their three years of riding together at Katusha, the hierarchy has, however, been fixed. Rodriguez has been the captain while Moreno has been happy to play the role of loyal domestique that occasionally takes his own chance.

In the last two years, Moreno has, however, proved that he is capable of winning big races himself. In 2012 he won the Vuelta a Burgos overall and two stages in the Criterium du Dauphiné and finished 5th overall in the Vuelta a Espana. This year he took over the captaincy role in the Fleche Wallonne when Rodriguez was recovering from his crash in the Amstel Gold Race and he took a dominant win on the feared Mur de Huy.

In the Vuelta a Espana he came in with all guns blazing, winning two stages and wearing the leader's jersey in the early part of the race. Towards the end, he faded and had to settle for 10th but he proved that he is able to match the very riders when he is at the peak of his condition.

Those results have convinced the Katusha management that it is time for Moreno to get more personal opportunities. Hence, the team plans to separate the pair more in 2014.

"We have planned the schedule so that Moreno will be riding less with Purito," manager Viacheslav Ekimov told R-Sport. "We believe that Moreno is a potential leader and can do well without Rodriguez. We intend to separate them more but it will not be easy. Their union is hard to break.

"The team gives him an opportunity and will support him. Sooner or later, a natural separation should happen."

The captaincy role is not unknown territory for Moreno. In 2010 he left his domestique job at Movistar to become a leader on Omega Pharma-Lotto. However, his time at the Belgian team ended as a disaster and he decided to rejoin Rodriguez at Katusha one year later.

It remains to be seen in which races Moreno will be the designated captain. He has made it clear that he wants to target the Ardennes classics and the Vuelta a Espana but both races are also clear objectives for Rodriguez. Yesterday Ekimov hinted that Moreno will not do the Tour de France, indicating that the team will support Alexander Kristoff in France.

This indicates that Moreno will also be at Rodriguez' side in the Giro d'Italia. Moreno's personal opportunities are likely to come in some of the weeklong WorldTour races in the spring where the pair can follow separate schedules.