Source : ABC NEWS
For the first time in three years, it might be harder to identify Luke Plapp among the kaleidoscope of coloured jerseys that make up the professional peloton.
Gone are the distinctive green and gold colours of the Australian national road race winner’s jersey.
They will, in fact, be adorning the shoulders of Plapp’s Jayco AlUla teammate Luke Durbridge, after three-time winner Plapp’s beautiful gesture last week in Perth to guide his teammate to a fairytale crown instead.
But Plapp is unlikely to remain hidden anonymously in the bunch in his team’s new purple jersey for long.
He is one target in his sights as the UCI World Tour season opener gets underway on Tuesday in Prospect: the leaders ochre jersey.
Durbridge said he will be “forever grateful” to Plapp for his help in winning the green and gold jersey in Perth.
But while saying he will be offering his full support over the next six days, he added that the 24-year-old’s lofty goal of winning every stage may be beyond his power to provide.
“You gotta admire the guy’s confidence, it’s enormous,” Durbridge said of Plapp.
“But he’s in great shape and I think we all love him on the team.
“You can’t beat that guy’s energy.”
Luke Durbridge has high hopes for Luke Plapp. (Getty Images: Dario Belingheri)
It’s his astonishing early season form — Plapp won the national time trial title for the third time last week — that has put him among the favourites of a stacked field to perform well at this year’s UCI World Tour season opener, despite never having achieved a top 10 stage finish in nine stage starts at the race.
“Last night [Red Bull BORA Hansgrohe’s] Laurence Pithie called him Mr January, he is in world class shape already,” Durbridge said at the pre-race press conference.
“It’s pretty hard to do and he continually does it.
“I think he’s ready and I’ll definitely be there to support him.
“Hopefully he can step onto the podium here or up the top step here.
“I think that’s possible and just keep developing in that one week stage race space which is something that we really see he has a big future in.”
Veteran Welsh rider Geraint Thomas added some weighty support to the Australian, backing his former Ineos Grenadiers teammate to live up to his promise with some sage words of advice.
“He’s got bags of potential,” Thomas said.
Geraint Thomas said Luke Plapp had a bright future full of potential. (Getty Images: Dario Belingheri)
“The main thing for me is just balance in life in general.
“I think it can be a bit intense sometimes and I’m not too sure how long that can last, but just having a good balance on and off the bike and knowing when to be super on it and when to be chilled, for me, that’s the main thing.
“That’s the probably the main reason why I’m still going now — I never thought I would be, but I think just having that on-off switch is key and committing when you have to.
“And I think having big goals is important as well, it pushes you, vocalising them makes it even more real and puts that bit more pressure on you.
“There’s no reason why you can’t step up, for sure.”
Plapp would be a popular winner, but has plenty of competition, not least last year’s winner Stephen Williams of Israel Premier Tech.
Stephen Williams will be looking to go back-to-back in Adelaide. (Getty Images: Peter Mundy)
“I think last season here set the tone for the season,” Williams, who also won last year’s Tour of Britain title and La Flèche Wallonne, said.
“Not just for me, but I think the whole team.
“It’s one of the first races of course, but momentum does build well, so I’ll do my best to start well again and hopefully we can continue that into the coming months.”
As for this week, the lumpy terrain suits the Welshman perfectly, with six days of tough racing in prospect.
“I think the parcours is suited quite well to me and I do enjoy these races that are decided on bonuses,” Williams said.
“They’re really tricky and technical and it’s always a bit of a dogfight.”
The 2023 champion Jay Vine (UAE Emirates) may have something to say about it too.
Jay Vine won the Tour Down Under in 2023. (Getty Images: Tim de Waele)
However, just 10 months on from his life-changing accident in the Basque Country, the Australian is still taking a more philosophical approach to racing.
“I’m really looking forward to enjoying my time here,” Vine said.
“It’s already been a really, really nice summer in Australia but this is January, this will be six days of a 70-odd race day calendar.
“So not blowing everything in the first six days would be, you know, good.
“And we’ve got myself and Jhonny [last year’s runner up Jhonatan Narvaez], so we’ve got two options, so even if I muck it up, we’ve got someone else that can step up.”
If Plapp wants some advice, he could do worse than looking at his fellow Aussie Sam Welsford, who claimed three stages at last year’s race.
“Last year was a dream start for us,” Welsford said.
Sam Welsford (right) claimed some impressive scalps last year. (Getty Images: Peter Mundy)
“It was pretty special to win three days here last year, I think that’s quite rare at any race, so to do that here in my home race was really special.
“This year will have the same goals, we wanna win as much as we can.
“We know that the tour is probably a lot harder than last year, more climbing, harder days, harder sprint days, but we’re really ready for that.
“We wanted to take it on and have a really strong team here.
“I think, for me, just a personal goal is just trying to be competitive in any sprint day and can help the guys in any other way on days that don’t really suit me.
“I think we have a quite a good team here with GC and sprint ambitions, so we’re ready to get stuck in.”
Thomas, who is no stranger to the streets of South Australia, could yet have a say, though.
For the 10th time in his extensive career, the only Welsh winner of the Tour de France is starting his season in Adelaide as he winds down the curtain on his stellar career.
“I’d love to win a race again,” Thomas said.
“I’m just trying to take some opportunities really and just enjoy it.
“I’m a lot closer to the end [of my career] than the start.
“So [I want to] make the most of it. It’s not bad what we do.”
Everything you need to know about the Tour Down Under
The men’s Tour Down Under starts on Tuesday and runs through to Sunday.
The race consists of six stages, with the total distance being 820.5km.
Where are the stages?
The six stages all take place in South Australia around Adelaide.
- Stage 1 is a 150.7km ride from Prospect to Gumeracha.
- Stage 2 is a 128.8km ride starting and finishing in Tanunda.
- Stage 3 is a 147.5km ride from Norwood to Uraidla.
- Stage 4 is a 157km ride from Glenelg to Victor Harbor.
- Stage 5 is the queen stage, a 145.7km ride from McLaren Vale to Willunga Hill.
- Stage 6 is a 20-lap circuit in the Adelaide CBD, featuring a 4.5km lap course.
Time bonuses are on offer throughout the race for the first three riders across the line, at intermediate sprints (three seconds, two seconds and one second) and at the race finish (10 seconds, six seconds and four seconds), meaning maintaining a good position is crucial to overall hopes.
The race leader wears the ochre jersey, an Australian take on the Tour de France’s famous yellow version.
With 12,469 metres of climbing, with a green and white polka dot jersey on offer for the king of the mountains, a blue jersey for the points winner (best sprinter) and a white jersey for the best under 23.
Is there a women’s race?
Noemi Rüegg claimed victory on Willunga Hill. (Getty Images: Dario Belingheri)
There is, and it was won by Swiss rider Noemi Rüegg of EF Education-Oatly.
She beat Silke Smulders by 13 seconds in the overall standings.
On the final day of the men’s race, Sunday January 26, there is a women’s one day race, the Schwalbe Women’s One Day Classic.
That will follow the exact same circuit that the men will race on in their final stage around the streets of Adelaide.
How can I watch the Tour Down Under?
The Tour Down Under can be watched on Channel Seven and Seven Plus.
