"If INEOS want to win the race, today is going to be the day" - Luke Plapp previews Giro d'Italia's queen stage
Cycling
This Sunday afternoon holds the Queen Stage of the 2024 Giro d'Italia. Many people with hold ambitions of taking a career-defining victory. According to the Australian though, it's the INEOS Grenadiers who hold the key to the day's racing.
After finishing 5th on the stage 14 individual time-trial, Plapp's GC ambitions have faded and the Australian National Champion switches his attention to hunting stages and helping Filippo Zana secure top-10 on GC. "It was a really good TT. To finish 5th, I was really satisfied. When I crossed the line I thought it was going to be up there so to go back to the hotel and watch everyone finish, it was nice to see where I was," reflects Plapp pre-stage 15 to Cycling Pro Net. "I think you want to be at 100% percent today. It's probably going to be a stage where I'll have this story for the rest of my career I think. It could live up to those sorts of expectations. Close to seven hours and a lot of climbing... I hope I'm feeling good."
Although Tadej Pogacar is now more than three and a half minutes into the Maglia Rosa, the likes of the INEOS Grenadiers and BORA - hansgrohe still hold slim hopes of pulling off a shock overhaul. "In my opinion, if INEOS want a chance to win the race, today is going to be the day," Plapp says of his former employers. "I think there's potential they could take it up and make it a really high calorie day. Against Tadej, if you're going to win, it's going to be today."
"We'll see what happens. If they don't take it up then yeah, UAE Team Emirates will control it or the breakaway will win," Plapp concludes his assessment. "It could go either way. It could be a really, really hard stage from the start if INEOS take it on or BORA even with Martinez, but they don't have support riders. If they don't, I think the breakaway wins."
Trouble is that Sheffields crash in the TT will weaken INEOS on the climbs where as a team they are not that strong in any case and I can't see them sacrificing Arensman when he is so high on GC. It looks more to me that INEOS, Bora, Bahrain and even Decathlon will not try anything until the last 5km. That is if there is any of them left at the front of the race with 5km to go. I hope I am wrong and one of the above teams do have a go. Not too long to wait now!
You may be right, I’m gonna go get my ride done before they start. Update: Had a flat after 5k so it’s postponed to tonight, hopefully a sign from Karma that something’s going to happen today ;-)
Just in
Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter today!
Popular news
Latest comments
- He’s living in his own little world, with Bruneel and Hincapie supporting this nonsense. LA is beyond redemption, will die alone, resentful, a lying, cheating, toxic human being. Feel sorry for his childrenCrashjames07-04-2025
- Not just the crash, it was also bad positioning when the first attack of Pogi came.abstractengineer07-04-2025
- ahhh, I don't know it, yes, I'm used to 7 days of antibiotic therapy. Thank you for the information!
maria2024202407-04-2025 - So in the end he did pretty well tactically too :-)Mistermaumau07-04-2025
- Why Maria, what is your reasoning? He was already ill during E3, thought he’d get over it but it got worse which is probably when he took them. His doc will be amongst the best-informed and his infection perfectly analysed. Read this and stop relying on generalised outdated assumptions about antibiotical treatment, part of the reason they may soon no longer be effective at all. “ In 2008, one of us (L.B.R.) posited that of the different ways the medical community could reduce the amount of antibiotic treatment prescribed, the one that seemed safest and most achievable was to treat infections only for as long as necessary to achieve optimal cure rates (1). It is difficult and potentially dangerous for providers not to prescribe antibiotics at all, but it should be easier to convince them not to prescribe antibiotics for so long. The evidentiary basis of traditional durations of antibiotic therapy is that a week is 7 days (2), which is why tried-and-true antibiotic regimens are 7 to 14 days long. The definition of a week was decreed by Roman Emperor Constantine the Great nearly 2000 years ago (2). This seems an unsatisfactory evidentiary basis for modern medical practice. Fortunately, in recent years, more than 45 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have compared the efficacy of short-course versus traditional, longer courses of antibiotic therapy for the treatment of community-acquired and nosocomial pneumonia, acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis and sinusitis, complicated urinary and intra-abdominal infections, Gram-negative bacteremia, acute bacterial skin infections, osteomyelitis and septic arthritis, and even neutropenic fever (3, 4). All RCTs for these diseases and 2 meta-analyses of these RCTs (5, 6) found no difference in efficacy between shorter and traditional courses of antibiotic therapy. Of note, the short-course regimens that were studied were typically not based on Constantine’s 7-day week. For pneumonia specifically, 8 RCTs have shown that 3- to 5-day courses of antibiotic therapy are at least as effective as 7- to 14-day courses for community-acquired pneumonia”Mistermaumau07-04-2025
- Totally. There may still be some details to disgust us but it won’t change anything to the basics of what happened and that the punishment was totally appropriate. If there was/is anything relevant to add, nothing is stopping him from doing that, he hasthe platform and connections and know-how how to defend himself in precarious affairs so why hesitate??? No use to your ego once you’re dead ;-) Barring a Trump pardon and awarding of fake US TdF titles, I don’t see it happening on this planetMistermaumau07-04-2025
- Silly comment in light of what was revealed post-race. Obviously the illness affected him on the day, he was even outsprinted by MP and Wout kept up with him.Mistermaumau07-04-2025
- Meaning, if dad was asked before he knew of the top secret* illness he wouldn’t have been able to integrate it into his “analysis”. * knowing how he likes talking, I expect it was kept secret even from him so as not to give things away.Mistermaumau07-04-2025
- Yes, but you have to take into account the order of interviews and the spread of knowledgeMistermaumau07-04-2025
- The truth is already out. Thats what the purpose of the testimony he gave was. Nevermind someone innocent would not have ruined so many lives in the process. If he somehow was ever allowed back in pro cycling or his records restored, not only would it be a travesty for Justice in sport, but it would be the end of cycling. Already done so much damage, and continues to by making stupid statements on his podcast to stay relevant. If he actually had any respect for the sport, or other people, he'd stop treating the world like fools and own his past and present. Not try and make up sob stories. Especially when all they do is highlight his entitlement and privilege.HoopoeChai07-04-2025