With AAP
Luke Plapp secured a third national time trial title, before being the ultimate teammate in the road race at the Australian Road Cycling Championships.
Plapp had plenty of fire in his belly as he entered the national championships in Perth last week, after a disastrous Paris Olympics ended with abdominal surgery.
He turned that Games gloom into gold on Thursday, holding off fellow Australian cycling star Jay Vine for his third national time trial championship. Plapp beat Vine by just 8.77 seconds on Thursday on the 38.4km course at Bold Park in Perth.
Plapp was confident of a strong time trial result on day one of the Olympics, but he was among several riders to crash out in treacherous conditions.
He suffered a nasty abdominal wound that needed surgery, sidelining him for several months and ruling him out of the road race at the Olympics.
“I really thought I was going to light up the Games halfway through last year. I knew I was right up there with the world’s best ‘TTers’,” he said.
“Unfortunately the results weren’t there, but I knew the legs were capable of it, so it was a lot of fire in the belly to go out there and prove it again.”
As defending champion, Plapp was the last rider to start in the elite men’s event and he clocked 46 minutes 33 seconds.
The former Maribyrnong Sports Academy student was then back in action on Sunday as he raced for a fourth straight road race title.
After sitting with the pack for most of the race, Plapp attacked with one lap to go.
He joined teammate Luke Durbridge out in front, who had been at the front since an early break away.
While he was clearly the stronger of the duo, Plapp paced Durbridge on the last of 13 laps and once it was clear they could not be caught, happily let his teammate cross the line first.
Durbridge paid tribute to Plapp for ensuring that he got the win in his hometown.
“It was looking pretty dire straits and he’s a true champion – I don’t know what would have happened if he hadn’t come across,” Durbridge told the SBS broadcast.
“He gave that to me and I can’t thank him enough.
“Both quads had gone, my back had gone as well, quite a long time ago.
“Plappy said, ‘Look mate, you just hold the wheel and it’s yours’. I knew I just had to suffer and he’s so strong – I’m so happy to get it.”
