"It was a very, very uncomfortable four hours" - Luke Plapp battles through diarrhoea to impressive breakaway showing at Giro d'Italia
Cycling
After his general classification ambitions fell away at the end of the first week of the 2024 Giro d'Italia, Team Jayco AlUla's Luke Plapp has switched targets to hunting stage wins.
On stage 19, Plapp was in the breakaway and well in the fight for victory before eventually crossing the line in 5th. An impressive ride made all the more impressive by the fact that the Australian National Champion was battling diarrhoea throughout the day. "It was a very, very uncomfortable four hours," he reflected afterwards, having thankfully not opted for the white shorts.
"I was happy with the race. The legs were really, really good but it was just that I had a lot of stomach problems which put me in a really uncomfortable position," he continues. "I had to keep stopping and then coming back but yeah, I was really happy with my legs."
In the end it was Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale's Andrea Vendrame who took the stage win, with Plapp as mentioned having to settle for 5th at the line, 2:27 down on the stage winner. "I think what cost me was that first time I had to stop," Plapp assesses honestly. "It took a long time to come back and when I did it was a steep 4km climb when the move had already gone so it just took a long, long time and a lot of energy for me to get back to the front. That was a shame because I could have at the front easily if I started with them. But, it was okay. We targeted this stage and I was happy with it."
If Plapp is to take a stage win on his Giro d'Italia debut, it's likely his best chance has no come and gone. With stage 20 being one publicly targeted by Tadej Pogacar and stage 21 likely to end in a sprint, Plapp will have a tough task to take that maiden Grand Tour stage win.
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- I think you overestimate scientific knowledge and for sure the spreading of it. There are huge numbers of people in similar situations, if there were an easy solution somebody would be making big money out of it. Nerve pain can have many complex origins or be due to complex combinations of reasons. Even if you discover a reason there is not always a solution. Migraines haven’t been solved either. I have had lower back/hip nerve pains on and off for over 30 years, no kind of doctor has ever found a way to reduce, prevent or solve the problem. It may just be that some people are born with nerves that are too short or get twisted out of position during certain movements.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- Amazing ride by her and very promising for her future. On a side note, it’s a bit worrying all these wins riders have after emotional moments in their lives, someone will come up with emotional doping at some point. Maybe give them fake news just before a big race to get hormones pumping.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- I doubt he will have the energy to do that if he continues to do leadout for Phillipsenabstractengineer22-12-2024
- I know several people who’ve tried contacting sport airbag manufacturers and none of them ever got a reply. Might be hard to organise anything with such attitudes.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- It's the BBC. Who cares outside of little Britain.leodis22-12-2024
- Crawl back under your stone.leodis22-12-2024
- Thanks Dadmobk22-12-2024
- Hard to believe with the advancment of modern medicine he can not find a cause for this.frieders321-12-2024
- You continue to platform these two cheats. With that in mind I can no longer use your site. I know my leaving means little, but, sometimes you have to take a stand. See ya!DJ21-12-2024
- Look at what Froome’s won since his last TdF, stop denying there is still more than possible one outcome to the future.Mistermaumau21-12-2024