‘Celebrate the good old Aussie way’: Luke Plapp claims emotional Giro d’Italia stage win after epic solo escape
Aussie cyclist Luke Plapp held a bottle of bubbly as he revealed the emotional roller coaster of his season so far after taking out his maiden Grand Tour stage win.
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An emotional Luke Plapp celebrated “the good old Aussie way” with a couple of glasses of vino after his heroic solo win on Stage 8 of the gruelling three-week Giro d’Italia.
Plapp won his first Grand Tour stage in spectacular fashion, attacking his three breakaway companions 700m from the top of the Montelago climb, and a remarkable 45km from the finish of the hilly stage.
The three-time Australian time trial champion finished 38 seconds ahead of Wilco Kelderman and Diego Ulissi, to become the second Aussie stage winner at this year’s Giro after Kaden Groves’ wild sprint win last week.
The 24-year-old Jayco Alula rider put his hands on his helmet in disbelief as he crossed the line first in his third Grand Tour.
The emotional Melburnian said he had been struggling since his sixth place finish in January’s Tour Down Under in Adelaide, where he rode with a wrist injury.
“There’s been a lot of lows,” he said after crossing the finish line. “Whether it’s at the Olympics, or at the Tour Down Under, and having surgery on my wrist.
“There’s been a lot of lows, and not many highs in between.
“There’s been no confidence.
“At the Tour Down Under I was feeling really amazing and was confident for that race, trying to win the overall.
“Since then there hasn’t been much confidence at all.
“Even today, I was feeling good, but I was almost getting dropped at stages before the break went there.
“To come good and make it is so, so special.”
Plapp dedicated the win to his mate, fellow Aussie cyclist Jai Hindley, who was concussed and suffered a fractured vertebrae in a horror crash on Stage 6.
“You see with Jai, who’s a close friend, who’s trained so much this year and spent so much time at altitude, just for it all to be taken away in the click of a finger,” he said.
“Cycling’s such a crazy sport, you’ve gotta make the most of the highs when you can, because in a click of the fingers it can be taken away.”
Plapp’s attention now turns to protecting team leader Chris Harper, before a rest day and a 28.6km time trial to start week two.
But first, a true Aussie celebration of his stage win.
“There’s a big stage tomorrow to look after Harper but I know me and my roommate Michael Hepburn are going to have a few wines tonight,” he said, showing off the magnum bottle of sparkling he received on the podium.
“I’ll take this bottle of vino back and we’ll enjoy it the good old Aussie way.”
Originally published as ‘Celebrate the good old Aussie way’: Luke Plapp claims emotional Giro d’Italia stage win after epic solo escape
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