Luke Plapp

When Ineos Grenadiers’ Luke Plapp was forced to ride the time trial stage of last week’s UAE Tour on his road bike, it prompted intrigue and headlines across the cycling sphere. But it’s a pan-flat, 9km course, people questioned, until hearing that, actually, the problem was that a...

Luke Plapp had to complete the 9km time trial in Ajman on stage three of the UAE Tour on a road bike, after crashing his time trial bike in the recon. The Australian's crash caused a mechanical issue his Ineos Grenadiers team couldn't fix in time, leaving him at a disadvantage throughout the time trial. Consequently, he ended up finishing 102nd on the third stage, 1-16 behind eventual winner Steffan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost).

Luke Plapp may be lining up in his first WorldTour race at the UAE Tour with the jersey of the Australian road champion on his back, but is quick to point out that winning while racing with his new team in Europe is perhaps a priority for another season. The debut year with Ineos-Grenadiers for the 21-year-old is all about taking the steps that will help benefit his long term development.

Luke Plapp (Ineos Grenadiers) will wear the green and gold striped jersey of the Australian champion in his first year as a WorldTour professional after chasing down James Whelan (Team BridgeLane) on the final climb and then riding straight on by to take a solo win at the elite men's road race at the Federation University Road National Championships.

Growing up, the happenstance of Luke Plapp being born in Australia meant that as he was coming of age as a cyclist, UCI race days were at a premium. However, since beginning his 2021 campaign, during which he would be unveiled as one of the latest young talents snapped up by the Ineos Grenadiers, getting out of Europe and back to his homeland is now the more formidable task.

Luke Plapp will make his Ineos Grenadiers debut in early October, with the Australian talent set to ride a trio of autumn Italian Classics. The 20-year-old officially joined the British team in a stagiaire capacity at the start of August but has yet to make an appearance, instead of representing Australia at the Olympics, Tour de l'Avenir, and World Championships.

Rising Australian cycling star Luke Plapp has capped a rollercoaster couple of months with a silver medal at the world road championships. It is Australia’s first medal at the week-long championships in the Flanders region of Belgium. The 20-year-old from Melbourne recovered from an elbow fracture last month to set...

Luke Plapp’s long-awaited arrival at Ineos Grenadiers has been confirmed with the Australian national time trial champion signing a multiple-year contract to join the British WorldTour team. Plapp will link up with his new squad from August 1 as a stagiaire rather than wait until 2022 to make his debut.

It is not unusual to see Australia's stars of the future emerge during the southern hemisphere summer of racing. This year Luke Plapp didn't so much emerge but instead smashed through with a deafening roar, outriding two top performers on the world stage on the exact territory where they excel and, subsequently, drawing the attention of a flock of WorldTour teams.