Matt White: We don’t know how good Luke Plapp can be

Luke Plapp’s move from Ineos Grenadiers to Jayco AlUla on a four-year deal represented a major coup for the Australian team and sports director Matt White believes that the young rider has huge untapped potential.

Jayco AlUla were outbid for Plapp’s services back in 2021 but the two-year stint at Ineos Grenadiers ended suddenly when the rider was allowed to nullify his contract with a year remaining. A four-year agreement was quickly established between the rider and Jayco AlUla in a move that Plapp himself described as a ‘coming home’ deal.

Race programmes for Plapp’s first season at Jayco AlUla are still to be decided but the likelihood is that the 22-year-old will race a Grand Tour before concentrating on the time trial at the Olympic Games if he is selected. White’s focus, however, will be dialled towards ensuring the new recruit develops in the right way over the coming years.

“We honestly don’t know how good Luke can be. He’s two years into his pro career and he’s been thrown around in terms of race programmes. He’s a long way from fulfilling his potential, that’s for sure, but he’ll have more freedom here when it comes to leading us at certain times, even though he’s still young. You don’t have the results at his age without talent. It’s our challenge to now develop him into the best rider that he can be,” White told GCN soon after Plapp’s signature was announced.

Plapp’s first two years in the WorldTour certainly confirmed his pedigree, with back-to-back wins in the men’s national road race championships and a handful of impressive outings in shorter stage races in Europe. Jayco AlUla see him as a potential stage race winner, but they are keen to give him time to develop. Hence the long-term deal.

“He’s still working out what type of rider he is but we know he can be world-class in the time trial. That’s his special talent but how far we can develop him in terms of a GC rider, we’ll find out over the next few years,” said White.

Plapp's plan at Jayco

Part of Plapp’s ongoing development will involve racing alongside team leader Simon Yates. The British rider has won the Vuelta a España and finished fourth in this year’s Tour de France. He’s an established Grand Tour contender, and White believes that the veteran’s experience can have a positive impact on the new recruit.

“When you look at building his race programme, some time with Simon and some of the older guys will be really beneficial. You don’t reach the level that Simon has had over the last ten years without being consistent and that comes down to day-to-day work over long stretches of time. We’ve got some blocks where Luke and Simon will do some racing together and that will be a valuable experience for him. He’ll be doing a Grand Tour next year and those details are being figured out as we speak,” White said.

Overall, it’s been a hugely productive and successful transfer period for the Australian team. Caleb Ewan has rejoined the team to give them additional firepower in the sprints, while Mauro Schmid has been picked up from Soudal QuickStep. White has overseen many winning teams during GreenEdge’s existence but he ranks the class of 2024 among the best.

“I think since 2018 it’s the best roster we’ve had," White said. "Back then we had double Yates with Simon and Adam, Jack Haig, Daryl Impey, Esteban Chaves, and Michael Albasini. That was an all-star roster but from the last five or six years, this is definitely the best roster that we’ve had."

“We’ve also got a good mix now of experienced guys who have been around the block and then some really exciting young talent. Having Caleb back means we have two world-class sprinters, and that gives you a lot of options. I’m really confident that it will work well between Caleb and Dylan Groenewegan. We’ve also got some great neo-pros coming in and with our new relationship with Axeon the future I looking really exciting.”