Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) may have lined up at Paris-Nice hoping to take another step along the way in his journey to developing as a stage-race contender, but stepping into the race lead on stage 4 was clearly above and beyond even his most ambitious hopes.
After riding away from key overall rivals – which included Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) – and holding on for second place at the top of Mont Brouilly, the Australian champion will be lining up in yellow on Thursday.
"I was at the back a bit today, but the boys got me up there when it mattered," said Plapp after the stage. "I’m blown away by how it unfolded to be honest. It was quite a weird way that it all played out, but I am really happy."
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Plapp didn't really attack but just rode away as he latched onto the wheel of a move by Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep) at around 25km to go, not far from the top of the penultimate climb of the day. Evenepoel's teammate soon fell away but Plapp continued on and then was joined at the front by Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious).
The Bahrain Victorious rider ultimately escaped to take the stage with Plapp not resisting as the Colombian flew away with under 1.5km to go. Instead, he settled in to hold second at the fourth stage of his first European race of the season.
“I really tried to race that last climb like a time trial and race it to the line and I think that gave me the best time possible rather than if I raced it and then blew up," said Plapp.
It was that strategic approach that helped place Plapp, who switched to Jayco-AlUla this season to chase leadership opportunities, into yellow during his debut at the race.
Plapp had started stage 4 in seventh place with a 15-second deficit on the General Classification, with the overall having begun to take shape during the team time trial on Tuesday where Jayco-AlUa took second to UAE Team Emirates.
By the end of the day, the Victorian's deficit had switched to a 13-second overall advantage, with stage winner Buitrago in second on the GC and UAE Team Emirates riders Brandon McNulty and João Almeida 27 and 29 seconds back in third and fourth.
In fifth is Evenepoel at 30 seconds, followed by Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) 40 seconds back and then Plapp's teammate, Chris Harper in seventh at 46 seconds.
"This is more than I ever could have imagined and anything else now is a bonus," said Plapp. "We’ll just take it day by day."
The climbing now eases a little, with stage 5 presenting another opportunity for the sprinters – including Jayco-AlUla's Dylan Groenewegen – but for the final weekend, the Paris-Nice route once again toughens up considerably.
Saturday's stage 7 provides a summit finish atop the category 1 Auron and then on stage 8 a succession of tough climbs will confront the contenders before the race drops down to the coast and final finish line in Nice.
