DEJA vu came for Luke Plapp, and this time he regained composure.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Twelve months ago, Plapp became over-excited about making up lost time and finished fourth.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
He won by more than 30 seconds for his second Australian time-trial championship, having also taken it out in 2021.<\/p>\n
Plapp hopes the ride puts him in the box seat to contest the time trial at the Paris Olympics.<\/p>\n
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?’<\/p>\n
“I did get a bit overwhelmed, but Hayman on the radio was really, really cool, calm and collected.<\/p>\n
“I just trusted the training.”<\/p>\n
Plapp led a quadrella for his new team, after switching from Ineos Grenadiers.<\/p>\n
Chris Harper was second, Michael Hepburn finished third and Kelland O’Brien was fourth.<\/p>\n
Plapp’s two main events this year are the Giro d’Italia in May and then, he hopes, the Paris Games.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Also on Thursday, as Grace Brown won the women’s elite event again, Jackson Medway and Ella Simpson won the under-23 time trials.<\/p>\n