
Team Jayco AlUla brought a strong team to the Tour of Hellas packed with quality riders, and today on stage 2 they bring the reward from it. On the queen stage of the race, Australian climber Luke Plapp managed to take the first win of his career outside national championships.
An interesting statistic, as the 24-year old has won both the road race and time-trial events on three different occasions from 2021 to 2025 back in Australia, but never won outside of his home country. This afternoon in Greece, he was the strongest in the summit finish to Arachova.
Plapp attacked in the final ascent and although he was joined by Astana's Harold Martin López, in the final sprint then he was the strongest out of the two. However, López was the one to take over the race lead. Marcin Budzinski sprinted to third out of a large group, of which many remain in GC contention.
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| 1 | Plapp Lucas | Team Jayco-AlUla | 04:37:39 |
| 2 | López Martin | XDS Astana Team | + 00 |
| 3 | Budzinski Marcin | ATT Investments | + 09 |
| 4 | Pridal Tomas | Elkov-Kasper | + 09 |
| 5 | Ulissi Diego | XDS Astana Team | + 09 |
| 6 | Maire Adrien | Unibet Tietema Rockets | + 09 |
| 7 | Camprubí Marcel | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 09 |
| 8 | Marchand Gianni | Tarteletto-Isorex | + 09 |
| 9 | Zabelinskiy Bogdan | Cyprus | + 09 |
| 10 | Stewart Mark | Solution Tech-Vini Fantini | + 09 |
| 11 | Schiffer Anton | BIKE AID | + 09 |
| 12 | Vanhoucke Harm | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 09 |
| 13 | De Keyser Ewout | Tarteletto-Isorex | + 09 |
| 14 | Tagliani Filippo | Monzon-Incolor-Gub | + 09 |
| 15 | Eiking Odd Christian | Unibet Tietema Rockets | + 09 |
| 16 | Kelley Garin | XSpeed United | + 09 |
| 17 | Bax Sjoerd | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 09 |
| 18 | Pekala Piotr | ATT Investments | + 09 |
| 19 | Ilias Periklis | Greece | + 09 |
| 20 | Stüssi Colin | Team Vorarlberg | + 09 |
| 21 | Berlin Antoine | BIKE AID | + 09 |
| 22 | Kyffin Zeb | Unibet Tietema Rockets | + 09 |
| 23 | Peter Jannis | Team Vorarlberg | + 09 |
| 24 | Zoidl Riccardo | Hrinkow Advarics | + 09 |
| 25 | Monti Alberto Carlo | ATT Investments | + 17 |
| 26 | Calzoni Walter | Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team | + 38 |
| 27 | Verza Riccardo | Hrinkow Advarics | + 54 |
| 28 | Geleijn Owen | Unibet Tietema Rockets | + 01:22 |
| 29 | Miltiadis Andreas | Cyprus | + 01:23 |
| 30 | Kaczmarek Jakub | Mazowsze Serce Polski | + 01:23 |
| 31 | Militello Jacopo | Monzon-Incolor-Gub | + 01:23 |
| 32 | Perracchione Alessandro | Team Novo Nordisk | + 01:23 |
| 33 | Bak Simon | BIKE AID | + 01:36 |
| 34 | Samudio Carlos | Solution Tech-Vini Fantini | + 02:11 |
| 35 | Riesen Tim | XSpeed United | + 02:11 |
| 36 | Schlegel Michal | Elkov-Kasper | + 02:11 |
| 37 | Hepburn Michael | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 02:1 |

Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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MarkFour07-11-2026 - This is a really interesting idea, which, if well prepared could even be very successful. Very little money needs to be involved for a first season and any success could lead to rapid interest from sponsors.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Hmmm, you seem to have a very convenient black and white view of things. Perhaps you haven’t been around much to discover how complex problems can become over time with people who know how to control, manipulate (or worse) others so gradually or subtly that you arrive at an irresolvable situation before you realise. This is how many inconveniences get introduced to the young, naïve, passionate or “desperate”, knowing they are not armed, protected or strong enough to defend themselves once it’s too late. Why do you think omerta culture is so widespread, why do you think so many people continue to go through so many awful things in life that others can’t understand anyone getting into? Life may be far more jolly for you but you would do well to understand (or reflect more on) the real world to refrain from being so quick to criticise those in a hard spot that may have genuine reason for speaking out.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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