Luke Plapp had to settle for second for a second straight year in the Australian Cycling National Championships men’s road race.
After giving up his chance to win a fourth straight title last year when he gifted Luke Durbridge the title, Plapp was in a fight to the line on Monday.
Patrick Eddy surprised the favourites to claim the title.
Eddy stormed home in a dramatic final lap to chase down the solo leader, Durbridge, before beating Lucas Plapp in a one-on-one sprint finish.
After his professional contract was not renewed at the end of 2025, Eddy reminded the world of his talents.
“This means everything, I have pretty much won nothing since I won junior nationals. I lost myself as a rider for the last few years. I think I’ve found myself again,” he said.
“I haven’t won anything since 2019, I started to forget what it was like to win a bike race, this is what I fell in love with. It’s good to be back, it means everything.
“I feel like most of the cycling world gave up on me, there was just a handful of people around me, kept believing in me and told me to keep hustling. This is for them.”
For most of the 176-kilometre race around Kings Park and the Perth CBD, the victory looked certain to go to a large breakaway of 12 riders, including Durbridge and Ben O’Connor, whose gap grew out to more than five minutes at one stage.
In the final two laps, Durbridge dangled at the front of the race as the remaining survivor of the breakaway, looking set to repeat last year’s heroics with almost a carbon-copy performance.
But Team Brennan had other ideas with Eddy set off to close the gap, accompanied by Plapp, who surprisingly contributed to the chase while his own teammate was off the front.
On the final climb of Pedal Mafia Mountain, Plapp accelerated, ostensibly to distance his Team Brennan rivals, but serving only to catch his teammate Durbridge.
Eddy was able to hold the wheel of Plapp over the top of the climb and into the finishing straight in Kings Park. From there, Eddy led out the two-man sprint and secured a shock victory.
Earlier, Plapp finished eighth in the time trial which was won by Jay Vine.
Plapp, who grew up in Maribyrnong, was the pre-race favourite but finished nearly three minutes behind Vine.
