Luke Plapp on dream start with Team Jayco AlUla - "From the gun we had everything under control"

After winning the time-trial national championships, Luke Plapp has now won the road race. It is a dream start to his stint with the new team, and it is already his third road race title in a row despite being only 23 years of age.

“The Aussies are back, GreenEDGE is back! That was amazing out there, I think from the gun we had everything under control and me and Harper had a great time out there, I can’t thank him enough," Plapp said in a press release. "We just wanted to be in control the whole time and I think we saw it, we knew we could take control early and once we were out there we always had it in the bag. It was an amazing team effort, from Blake [Quick] at the start, Rudy [Porter] following the moves, then Kell (Kelland O'Brien, ed.), we were never out of it.”

It was a team attack with 100 kilometers to go on the Mount Buninyong circuit. Some could say a tactical masterpiece, but the truth is that the World Tour outfit had by far the strongest riders on the day, and they also had the depth. Hence, they did not wait long until making big moves to put the competition under pressure. He and Chris Harper attacked the competition and went on to race to a comfortable win, with Plapp being allowed to cross the line in first place. Kelland O'Brien sealed the podium but a whole six minutes away from the leading duo.

“I think from the start we were all on top of it, Plappy and I came across the line one-two and it really was a team effort today," Harper said in a post-race interview. "Everybody played their part. We had numbers and could dictate the race really.Plappy was absolutely flying at the end there, so I had to tell him to ease up a little bit for me, but it’s a great day and a good hit out for us going to Tour Down Under next week as well.”