"We don’t know what to expect anymore in cycling" - Luke Plapp open to all scenarios ahead of first big challenge in Paris-Nice lead
Cycling
Team Jayco AlUla's Luke Plapp had his first day in the yellow jersey today at Paris-Nice, enjoying a calmer day. Big days lay ahead for the Australian rider who may become the race's biggest surprise.
“It was nice. The sun was out, and the French roads were beautiful today, I really enjoyed it. It was a super-fast and frantic finish trying to catch the breakaway. It was a beautiful day and I really like being in yellow. Today was a nice recovery day after a hard effort yesterday," Plapp said in a press release issued by the team. In fact, a day where he spent a lot of time in the tail of the peloton - even in the final kilometers. An interesting strategy, from a rider who was not expecting to find himself in this position.
Having spent as less energy as possible today, he will hope to enter stage 6 fresher than the competition. A day that will be hard with a lot of wind and a steep climb close to the finish where attacks are expected in the fight for the overall classification. "I think tomorrow is going to be hard but we don’t really know what to expect," he admits.
"Obviously, there’s going to be a lot of guys that want to make up time on the GC, too. We don’t know what to expect anymore in cycling and we’ll be ready for anything tomorrow," he concludes.
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- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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🏁FINISH 🏁 Not what we were hoping for today with @GroenewegenD unable to feature in the sprint 😕 But Plappy retains yellow 💛✅ 🇫🇷 #ParisNice
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