Wandering around his bush block near Bright in Australia with its “lawn mower” sheep to supplement the ride on, mountainous surrounds and the hint of a stream trickling into a small dam, Luke Plapp is clearly at home.
"Honestly, I don't think there's a better place in the world,” the rider tells Cyclingnews at his rustic piece of bush paradise, or “my happy place,” as the rider puts it, while arranging to meet up for this interview at his off-season haven.
The raucous laughing song of a kookaburra adds another layer of Australiania to a scene already thick with it. Plapp, in his Akubra, pulls up a camp chair under the awning of his caravan – the classic Australian Jayco, of course – and, surveying the scene, it feels like a pretty sure bet that there would be Vegemite tucked somewhere in one of the cupboards and that the kangaroos will at some stage hop by to help the sheep with their mowing duties.
It is all too easy to see why Jayco-AlUla were inspired to welcome the rider into the fold with a social media skit which asked; what is the most Australian thing you can think of? Plapp was the answer they came up with, after kangaroos and Vegemite, of course.
The 22-year-old may have spent his first two seasons in the WorldTour with Ineos Grenadiers but was barely ever in the British-based team’s distinctive red and black kit – green and gold was the colour he moved through the peloton in instead after two back-to-back victories in the elite national championships road race.
The distinctive bands on the national jersey, the unique flora and fauna, or the ingrained local brand names may be obvious national hallmarks but just as clearly on display are some of the more nebulous characteristics of country living, mateship and the sense of community.
Plapp – who as a boy spent his early days learning how to race in the inner suburbs among the supportive environment of the Brunswick Cycling Club and the season jumping around the world – has quickly also become a proud advocate of the Alpine region. Last year, he decided to establish his Australian base there after having relished his childhood family trips to the place, where clear swimming holes dot the trout-filled waterways that wind their way through the bushland while breweries, restaurants and cafes dot the main street.
Though, more importantly for Plapp's plans for the seasons ahead is that Bright and the area around it is far more than just a place to relax in.
"Yes, Europe has the climbs and they've got attitude, but we've still got like close to 2000m," Plapp said of the climbs in the region, which include Mount Buffalo, Mount Hotham and Falls Creek. "But in the valleys, it's flat, it can be really hot – you get 40 degrees in the valleys – but are still comfortable climbing. You've got the long mountains, you've got the dead roads, which are what you want to train on because it keeps you pedalling the whole time.”
After a season that started so well – with the 22-year-old claiming his second elite national road title in a row and then heading off the the UAE Tour to take second overall to Remco Evenepoel – but headed south soon after with crashes, concussion and illness, setting out to build toward a more successful year ahead is clearly high on the priority list.
"I just never seem to find my groove this year," said Plapp. "Which was a real big shame. Yeah, especially like how well the season started. I really had high hopes, so I definitely, like, came home with a bit of disappointment."
"I think that's really driven me now to be really motivated. Like, I feel like I'm training super hard at the moment."
When Cyclingnews spoke to Plapp early in December, he was already into his fifth week of training, having just taken a short break after taking on his last race with his Ineos Grenadiers teammates at the Tour of Guangxi mid October. He was ready to add in some intensity, just at the right time to put on a spectacular display at the Victorian Road Series event, the three stage Tour of Bright. There he clearly relished the opportunity to up the ante on his usual training roads as well as turn a spotlight on a crucial grassroots event nestled in a community that has long embraced the sport of cycling and also, evidently, Plapp.
Plapp turned on the excitement for the spectators that lined the road to watch the riders go past, particularly when he pulled out all the stops on the final stage, burning off the rest of the field low on Mount Buffalo and driving himself unrelentingly on what he described as "my favourite climb in the world."
Sweat dripping despite the cool mountain air, concentrated determination driving him on, even though the gritty tunnel vision demeanour as the line drew closer made it clear that absolutely everything was being poured into keeping the pedals turning. All the way up he was catching – and quickly dispatching – riders who had set off far earlier from the lower grades, many who dug out some of their last reserves of energy to enthusiastically cheer on the rider as he passed them while delivering an unprecedented pace on the imposing summit.
Many others, however, could only shake their head in amazed disbelief at how quickly he flashed by on his way to claim not just the stage and overall Tour of Bright honours but also eviscerate the former Strava King of the Mountain time, shaving more than three minutes off with a ride that will no doubt be regularly dissected and discussed in the brewery down the road in Bright for years to come.
Inspired and in familiar territory among a supportive environment, Plapp had delivered. Now, the hope is that the embrace of a home team will deliver a similar result on the WorldTour for the seasons ahead.
A Grand Tour leader in the making?
When Plapp launched into the top tier of racing with Ineos Grenadiers in 2022 on the back of an attention-grabbing performance on Willunga Hill at the Santos Festival of Cycling – a domestic replacement for the COVID-19 pandemic-cancelled Tour Down Under – he was under no illusions that he had plenty to learn. The rider, who had been track-focussed, had to find his feet in the WorldTour peloton and work out what type of races and role he could target.
"I've learned so much from the guys [at Ineos]," said Plapp, pointing out the crucial role riders he had become close to like Ethan Hayter and Ben Swift had in his development. "I don't think I'd be where I am now if it wasn't for them. So, I still think Ineos was the best place for me to start, and I wouldn't change that for the world. It was just the right time now to make that switch to Jayco."
The connections to the Australian team, which he is now signed to for four years, are strong, with relationships not only built with home nation riders and staff while representing Australia on the road and track but also through the strong personal ties Plapp has with many of the other riders.
"It doesn't feel like I need a training camp to meet everyone and say, 'Hi, my name is Luke.' Everyone has that understanding of each other.
"It feels right. It feels really comfortable. I'm not scared as such or unsure of what the future holds. I think I really know what I'm stepping into, and it's something I'll be comfortable in and be able to flourish ... hopefully."
Yet it is no small challenge ahead as the rider, who has a talent for the crucial time trial and climbing skill sets required for a Grand Tour leader, has set some big aspirations for the years ahead.
"Now I know what type of rider I want to be, and I think maybe the opportunities might have been a bit shorter at Ineos try to go after that," said Plapp. "I know what I want to try and achieve in the sport, and the window is there, the opportunities are there to almost go after that more, and that is to have a bit more leadership at races, really see where I can get to in the sport."
The season ahead
Plapp will start the new season in Ballarat, heading away from his haven near Bright on January 1 to the regional Victorian centre to get the ball rolling with his new team, and hoping to quickly help bring back a splash of green and gold to the team kit – which has been missing the last couple of years. First he takes on the individual time trial on Thursday January 4 at the 2024 Federation University RoadNats where he will be attempting to reclaim the time trial title that he last took out in 2021. Then he will line up in the road race on Sunday, which he has won the last two years even when he was riding without a single teammate to smooth the path.
After that it will be onto the Tour Down Under and Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, where he will be among the key riders. The Jayco-AlUla squad for the race also includes Caleb Ewan, who is returning to the team owned by Jayco founder Gerry Ryan after five years at Lotto-Soudal, and Simon Yates, who took second overall in South Australia in 2023.
After the Australian season, it is a bit of a rest for Plapp and another build in Europe, with the UAE Tour off the agenda this season in an attempt to see him arrive at the end of it in better form. Plapp also expects to be taking on his second Grand Tour, having ridden the Vuelta a España in his neo-pro year, with a Giro d'Italia start in the early plans.
"I see the Giro, Olympics, and World Champs as three peaks that you can build toward with a nice break in between them all, so that's how I sort of see the program," said Plapp adding that there would also be a mix between one-day races and smaller stage races at the start of the year.
Ultimately, it is all about working toward "being able to discover my full potential" and it seems that there is no place like home to help make that happen. That starts right from his bush block training base and moves onto the familiar comfort of the home team, with the long-running Australian GreenEdge squad as much in need of another rider that is ready to grasp GC leadership opportunities as Plapp is willing to chase them.
"I'm excited. I'm really, really excited to get stuck into it with the team, and that's why I really want to make a good first impression and be going well and really hit the ground running," said an irrepressible Plapp. "I'm super thankful for everything they've done to allow me that four-year contract. I just really hope to be able to repay them, whether it's this next year or in the years to come."
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