Luke Plapp entering ‘unchartered territories’ on GC after ‘insane day’ in Giro d’Italia

Australian raced into the virtual maglia rosa but split ambitions cost him in the end

08:19, Friday 10th May 2024

George Poole

Junior Writer

Share

The stage 6 breakaway was largely instigated under the steam of Luke Plapp's fellow Australian, Kaden Groves (right)

Only a couple of hundred metres beyond the finish line of stage 6 at the Giro d’Italia, all attention was firmly on Luke Plapp, the Jayco AlUla rider who had just ridden to third from the day’s breakaway and narrowly missed out on a first Grand Tour stage win to second-placed Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal Quick-Step) and the day’s winner Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar).

A gaggle of reporters swamped around the Australian national champion, waiting with bated breath as to what he might say about the stage, one in which Plapp was the virtual leader of the road at one point, such was the time gap between his breakaway and the peloton containing race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).

In spite of this, the 23-year-old was quick to bat away any suggestion that the chance to pull on the maglia rosa had been on his mind.

“No, I knew they were never gonna let it go,” he answered. “You could see from the gaps they were keeping, they weren't willing to let the jersey go.”

But the opportunity to take time on his rivals in the general classification had been a consideration for Plapp and did affect the way he attacked the stage in the finale. Beginning the day 2:33 behind Pogačar but only 1:46 off the podium places, the Jayco AlUla rider was met with a quandary when the time gap between the break and the peloton swelled upwards of three minutes.

“The three of us worked reasonably well to the finish. We played games a bit. I was half eyes on looking for time and half on the stage,” he admitted. “So, I ended up riding a bit harder than the others and they were sort of playing it out. But, in the end, I'm happy.”

Happiness was not only reserved for Plapp, however. Sánchez roared to his first Grand Tour stage victory on the uphill sprint to the line whilst Alaphilippe enjoyed his best performance of the season, with both riders able to benefit from Plapp’s pace-setting and take advantage of his fatigue in the finale.

As Plapp and the group of reporters engaged in the day’s debrief, unbeknownst to most, Quick-Step’s Alaphilippe took a moment to offer up his appreciation for the help of his breakaway companion. Navigating his way around the post-stage melee, the Frenchman waved to the Jayco AlUla man and said words to the effect of “chapeau Luke, good ride.”

His words fell on deaf ears, such was the bedlam beyond the finish line, but Plapp was content with his day’s efforts, despite his natural disappointment at missing out on a stage win.

“That was an insane day. Yeah, the race was out of control the whole race,” he said.

“I felt really, really strong on the climbs, but those two were super punchy, so it was always going to be really hard to get away, especially on those short climbs, so I knew I wasn't quicker than them in the sprint. I tried to actually go on the gravel Climb a long way out, but they were able to stay with me and then I was just glad we worked reasonably well together.”

Read more:

Plapp's GC threat is recognised by other teams

Speaking to the media on the eve of the race, Plapp had more than downplayed his own ambitions of riding to a top 10 overall in Rome – his team’s GC leader was Eddie Dunbar, after all – but with the Irishman having abandoned the race and Plapp’s current standing is a favourable one, the Australian is beginning to reserve more than half an eye on his overall position.

“I would've liked to gamble a bit more and play games in the last kilometre, but also at the same time, I was happy to sneak a few seconds as well,” he said, pointing to the split ambitions between going all out for the stage win or doing his utmost to improve his position on GC.

“It's a battle, isn't it? Whether you risk it all for the stage win and get caught, or hold on for third and get a couple seconds.”

In the end and with bonus seconds accounted for, the 23-year-old gained 36 seconds on the peloton on stage 6. He has moved up to 15th overall and openly admitted to having tried to save some of his energy reserves for an all-important 40km time trial on Friday, which is sure to give the general classification a more defined hierarchy. His steady recovery from a mediocre opening weekend has not escaped the attention of Pogačar and his team.

“UAE at the start of the race actually had like 10 or 15 numbers on their [handle]bar of who they wouldn’t allow [in the breakaway], I was one of them,” Plapp revealed.

Persona non grata for the breakaway, then, likely more so after the Australian shoots up the GC standings should all go to plan on Friday, but his team are under no rush to pull the plug on Plapp’s attack on the top 10 overall.

“We know it’s cliché but he’s never done GC longer than seven or eight days,” Jayco AlUla’s director of high performance and racing, Matt White, told GCN after stage 6.

“So we really are going into uncharted territories next week. The first thing is to get through a TT and a hard mountain stage and then we’ll see where he is. But we’re certainly not going to throw GC away.

“We know at the back end of this race it is really tough, it’s a tough ask for him, but let’s see what he’s up for.”

Stage 6 may have ended with a jot of disappointment for Plapp and his team, but for the Australian national champion it was the best performance of his Giro debut to date and with his favoured discipline coming into play on Friday afternoon, things are looking up.

“It was a good day, it was beautiful weather and it was good fun out there in the break.

“Who knew that the one stage I was so scared of for the whole race ended up going pretty well?”

For everything you need to know about the 2024 Giro d'Italia, from the history of the race to this year's route and start list, be sure to check out our dedicated race hub.