INTERVIEW Luke Plapp | "I haven't even looked at the stages" - Australian on Tour de France debut, post-Giro preparation and support for Ben O'Connor

Team Jayco AlUla are coming to the Tour de France supporting Ben O'Connor's GC ambitions and Dylan Groenewegen's sprinting goals. Stage wins, however, should be the priority - and with a rider like Giro stage winner Luke Plapp on board, they very well might. CyclingUpToDate has caught up with the 24-year old in Lille.

Plapp won stage 8 of the Giro d'Italia and abandoned the race on stage 17. Being at the Tour de France wasn't in his plans, he was surprised in June when he got the call. "There wasn't enough time to do any altitude camps or anything by the time I found out. So, I was just back home and we actually did motor pacing almost every single day leading up to here. So, yeah, I mean it was nice having the Giro in the legs," Plapp said in words to CyclingUpToDate and Cyclingnews.

"You don't have to chase those long rides or chase fitness. It's more about fine-tuning and getting some really good efforts in. Also it's been super hot lately. So, yeah, it's almost been just shorter rides and more high-intensity which is always easy to get on the bike," he explains. "Just smash yourself for three hours and come home and relax. So, I definitely feel like I've taken another step since the Giro having that in the legs".

Plapp, a winner at the Tour of Hellas also earlier this spring, has been racing a lot this year - 37 race days in the bag before the Grand Depart - but he enjoys that his Tour debut will come without pressure. "And I think it's probably the first time I've been really ready for a Grand Tour of the Giro where I was able to go into it and not be stuffed every single day and really come out of it and soak it up rather than in a hole as such".

"So, yeah, I'm really looking forward to see how that goes and then also just having another Grand Tour in the legs too in a year. Hopefully, I can take a massive step out of that for the future". In the northern French city, he quite enjoyed his first contact with the Tour's audience on Thursday afternoon:

"Yeah, it was special. It's big. There's definitely a lot more people, a lot more media around. And I guess everyone tells you the Tour is a circus and it is crazy and you sort of never understand it until you're here. So, to see all the media here, it definitely is another level. So, yeah, I'm just looking forward to it. I mean, none of that media or the outside stress really does anything to me. I quite enjoy it. So, it's just a great atmosphere and I'm really looking forward to getting stuck in".

Plapp's biggest power is his ability to do long solo moves. Breakaways are, on paper, where he has the best chances of giving the Australian team success. However, he is looking to support O'Connor and Groenewegen through a tricky first week where both will have specific days where they need to spend a lot of time close to the front of the race.

"I'd love to just help where I can. I think in the first 10 days, it would be sort of maybe trying to give Durbo (Luke Durbridge, ed.) a break on the front and doing some work on the front to set Dylan up for the sprint days. If there's some opportunities in the first two weeks, definitely I'll try and take them. And then if not, I'd really like to see how I can go in the mountains and support Ben".

He is also eager to test himself as a luxury domestique, of course if O'Connor is in position to contest for the top spots at the Tour. "I mean, I've never even really raced these top guys before at stage races either. So, I'm really looking forward to hopefully having a couple of days where I can really go deep in the mountains to support Ben and just test myself to see where that level is at and know where I need to build for the future".

Plapp comes into the race relaxed, maybe even too much he admits: "I haven't even looked at the stages to be honest," he laughed. "I mean, if you asked me that before the Giro, I knew every stage that I think was a potential to be a breakaway, ones I could do well here. I haven't even looked past day one. I just know day one's a sprint and I mean, you can make and break your Tour on day one, I think, if we can win the sprint with Dylan and get the yellow jersey, then anything else after that's a success".

The 24-year old is looking to race this Tour day by day. "So, yeah, just make the most of tomorrow and then look towards every other day after that and how I can help the guys and for sure if Matthew Hayman says in the morning I can go for the breakaway and he thinks it's a good day, then I'll jump in it and take those chances, but I would never be able to tell you what those days are and what they look like yet".