Luke Plapp may be lining up in his first WorldTour race at the UAE Tour with the jersey of the Australian road champion on his back, but is quick to point out that winning while racing with his new team in Europe is perhaps a priority for another season. The debut year with Ineos-Grenadiers for the 21-year-old is all about taking the steps that will help benefit his long term development.
“The beauty of riding for Ineos is they’ve got so many winners already on the team that they’re not looking for those results out of their young guys,” Plapp told Cyclingnews in Australia ahead of the 2022 season. “They’re letting them develop and learn and then turn into winners.”
A steep learning curve always awaits new professional riders, but for many Australian riders, the gradient can be intense. Even at the best of times riders from the nation can find it hard to replicate the European experience, with domestic races generally shorter and pelotons smaller, but with the COVID-19 pandemic playing havoc with international and domestic borders alike, even the top-tier level of Australia racing has been severely curtailed in recent years. Layer over that the fact that Plapp’s focus heading into the Olympic Games was largely track based, and the rider is acutely aware that his first goal needs to simply be accruing hours of racing on the road.
“For me the year is just about learning,” Plapp said. “I’d almost like to do as many race days as I can, upwards of 60 to 70 race days. I really just want to almost try every type of race there is over in Europe, see what works for me because I’m not sure what type of rider I am just yet.”
“I’d love to be able to give almost every single type of race and parcours a crack, try and work out where I fit in. And then maybe the following year, I can sort of start specialising in what I think suits me as a bike rider.”
Plapp, has time on his side, as he signed a three year contract with Ineos Grenadiers on the back of breakthrough performances in Australia in 2021.
First he won stage two at the Santos Festival of Cycling then graciously sat up and clapped Team Garmin Australia teammate Richie Porte across the line on the Willunga Hill stage. After that he went on to take out the elite and U23 time trial title at the Australian Road National Championships. Plapp wasn’t able to defend that title in 2022, as he was in isolation as a COVID-19 close contact, however he was able to make his return for the road race where, despite not having a single teammate, he delivered a canny and perfectly-timed race to take a clear solo victory.
Add to that four days of racing at the Santos Festival of Cycling with the national team and, despite a solid break at the end of 2021, Plapp should be ready for the first international race of his first full season with the team.
First WorldTour foray at UAE Tour
Plapp had just a few days of international racing on the road last year after the Tokyo Olympic Games, both with the Australian national team and Ineos Grenadiers as a stagiaire. His first foray into WorldTour racing, however, will be the UAE Tour where he will start his first international race in his first full season as a professional cyclist.
“Coming off the Aus summer, it does suit me with the heat. There’s also a time trial there, where I’d love to show my stuff to the team and to the rest of the world,” said Plapp who finished second in the U23 time trial at the Road World Championships in 2021, even though he fractured his elbow the month before.
“That is a good first target for me, I think,” said Plapp of the UAE Tour. “And also with the crosswinds that it offers, there’s going to be a lot of learning curves that I can take from that race. It would also be good to see where I’m at and I guess it is early enough in the season that I can learn from that and be able to build towards the end of the season and see the gaps that I have to fill.”
“Next pre-season, I’ll be able to reassess and I will have learnt so much from coming through this and hopefully be able to nail it for that 2023 season.”
On the road Plapp has so far in Australia gathered his best results with solo forays, on climbs, and of course, in time trials. There may still, however, be other strengths to uncover. Plapp said his long contract means he is able to ease in with the team supporting him to learn and develop into the rider he is meant to be step by step.
At first “you’re there to help out the guys in the team, then you are there to learn to win and then the third step, I think, is winning yourself,” Plapp said. “So I think there are three levels to it, and it’d be awesome if I could tick off two of them next year. And then in the second and third years of my contracts, be able to play a part in winning.”
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On track
Plapp said a successful 2022 season would be to have learnt what type of rider he is, his way around the peloton and also feel at home in Europe. However, just because it is a year of learning doesn’t mean results are totally off the radar, particularly not with a home-nation Road World Championships in Wollongong in September.
“Of course, a couple of nice time trial results at Commonwealth Games, and Worlds would be a great focus for me.”
The rider also spent plenty of time in the green and gold jersey on the track last year, finding his way onto the Tokyo Olympic Games to race the Team Pursuit. It wasn’t an Olympic debut that went to plan, with teammate Alex Porter crashing down when his handlebars snapped during qualifying. The team got to restart, but qualified fifth, losing the chance to race for a gold and silver medal. In the end they won bronze but it has left the squad with unfinished business.
“First of all I do want to get set up in Europe, and be focussed on the road to establish myself over there and then tap back into the track,” said Plapp. “Obviously for us boys, we didn’t get the result we wanted at Tokyo, and that’s that’s always going to be there and we’re always going to want to chase that gold medal.”
“Winning as an individual is nowhere near as special as being able to share it with three of your best mates. So Paris, that’s definitely still on the cards and also LA, I’d love to be a part of the Madison going forward for a few years to come and also the Team Pursuit if it can fit in with the road. But I think they do go hand in hand and as we’re seeing now, there’s more and more road professionals crossing back over to the track and having great results.”
