No deja vu in Men’s TT

DEJA vu came for Luke Plapp, and this time he regained composure.

In his first ride for top Australian team Jayco AlUla, the 23-year-old convincingly won the national time-trial championship on Thursday at Mt Helen, near Ballarat.

But Plapp suffered the same mechanical problem, a slipped chain, on the same point on the course as he did last year in the same event.

Twelve months ago, Plapp became over-excited about making up lost time and finished fourth.

On Thursday, with former Paris-Roubaix winner Mat Hayman calming him down over the radio from the team car, Plapp was unstoppable after quickly switching to his spare bike.

He won by more than 30 seconds for his second Australian time-trial championship, having also taken it out in 2021.

Plapp hopes the ride puts him in the box seat to contest the time trial at the Paris Olympics.

Asked what went through his head when the same thing happened again, Plapp replied, “A lot of swear words. A lot of ‘how could this happen again?’

“I did get a bit overwhelmed, but Hayman on the radio was really, really cool, calm and collected.

“I just trusted the training.”

Plapp led a quadrella for his new team, after switching from Ineos Grenadiers.

Chris Harper was second, Michael Hepburn finished third and Kelland O’Brien was fourth.

Plapp’s two main events this year are the Giro d’Italia in May and then, he hopes, the Paris Games.

He was a member of the ill-fated squad that won bronze in the team pursuit at the Tokyo Games, with teammate Alex Porter face-planting in their qualifying ride after his handlebar snapped.

“This event, July 27 in Paris, the Olympic TT is the main focus for me,” Plapp said. “It’s something I’ve had on the calendar since Tokyo.

“The national TT was sort of a test event for the Olympics. Hopefully I’ve put my hand up for selection and we can start building towards that.”

Also on Thursday, as Grace Brown won the women’s elite event again, Jackson Medway and Ella Simpson won the under-23 time trials.

– ROGER VAUGHAN/ AAP