Luke Plapp aims at second Giro TT and attacking final week 🇮🇹 🇦🇺
'I took a bit of a hit to my pride, and I’m just trying to work my way into it, 'the Australian says following stage 2 TT crash
Morning subscribers,
We’re up early as we have two stories for you this morning. The first is an interview with Luke Plapp as he shifts his focus towards the second Giro d’Italia time trial and then the mountain stages in the final week.
Our second story will focus on Visma-Lease a Bike, how they’re juggling several aims, the pressure on Wout van Aert from outside the team, and whether transfer speculation is a distraction for their riders.
Later today, I hope to have another transfer round-up story, and I aim to speak with Ethan Hayter and cover Orluis Aular.
Don’t forget, you can follow the Giro coverage on my Instagram account, and to coincide with the Giro d’Italia, I’ve set up a ✨ special 20% sale ✨ on annual subscriptions. Just click on the link below to sign up. For roughly £1 a week, you get all the stories on my Substack, including all the transfer exclusives.
Have a great day.
Daniel 🫶
It’s not been the Giro d’Italia start Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla) was hoping for, but the Australian is determined to turn his race around, beginning with the second time trial on stage 10, followed by an aggressive week of racing in the mountains before the race concludes in Rome.
Plapp entered the race targeting stage wins, with his team believing a few weeks ago that an outside chance at the GC could be on the cards. However, those GC hopes were dashed following a mediocre performance at the Tour de Romandie last month.
The stage 2 time trial in Tirana was a logical target for the 24-year-old, but despite being in contention for a good result, a crash took him out of the running. Plapp's ambitions now focus on the second time trial on stage 10, while the final week in the mountains could also see Plapp feature in breakaways as he either chases stage success or looks to provide cover for teammate Chris Harper.
We caught up with Plapp outside the Jayco-AlUla bus following stage 4 into Lecce.
“I’m not too bad. I’m just trying to get right after the crash, both physically and mentally, in the time trial. I took a bit of a hit to my pride, and I’m just trying to work my way into it. Coming into the Giro, my objectives were focused on stages, starting with the first time trial in Albania, and the second target was the TT in Pisa. After that, it’s about trying to get into some moves in the mountains, whether that’s for myself or having a key role to help Chris Harper on GC. That’s where the focus is across the second and third week,” he said.
It’s been a stop-start season for Plapp. He looked unbeatable at the Australian nationals at the start of the season, winning the time trial and slotting into second in the road race. He finished sixth on the general classification at the Tour Down Under despite carrying an injury, but was forced to undergo surgery in the UK in February.