Luke Plapp was surprised to become the new race leader of the UAE Tour after the team time trial, convinced that Remco Evenepoel had taken the red jersey as well as winning the stage with Soudal-QuickStep.
The Australian was still buzzing with the emotion and adrenaline of what he describes as “the best discipline in cycling” and so pulling on the leader’s jersey after an intense ride made for a perfect day.
"I didn't realise I was leading until they just announced the results, but it's just such a close race, you can see that with me and Remco are now on even times," Plapp said with enthusiasm.
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“Team time trailing is the best discipline in cycling. It’s a lot of fun coming from a team pursuit background, you get to give it all for about 10 or 15 minutes more than in a team pursuit. Everyone in the team loves it because everyone is involved in the plan. It is the best event in cycling.”
“I loved it out there with the guys, we’ve got a great group, who are ex-team pursuiters too, so it was really smooth out there.”
Plapp and Ineos Grenadiers finished third, three seconds down on Soudal-QuickStep and EF Education-EasPost. The three seconds gap was the same time the Australian had gained during stage 1 and so the hundreds of a second recorded in the time trial decided the race leader. Plapp pulled on the red jersey and will wear it during stage 3 to the Jebel Jais mountain finish.
“It was really close, over 18 minutes, the top five teams were separated by a few seconds,” he said.
“A team time trial adds a lot of excitement to a stage race but also doesn't mess around with the GC because the times are always so close.”
Plapp powered the Ineos Grenadiers quartet to the finish using his pursuiting and time-trialing skills and praised his teammates for their effort during the out and back 17.3km course around the desolate edge of Khalifa Port.
Ineos Grenadiers’ line-up included veteran triathlete Cam Wurf and junior world time trial champion Josh Tarling.
"The 19-year-old is the strongest guy on our team here. It's a pleasure to have Josh on our team. He's such a big boy he's going to be a future Filippo Ganna,” Plapp said in praise.
“Cam is so experienced too. He's been in the pro peloton for so long, and he's really good on the TT bike because he can spend up to 180 km on it. I think we lost the stage win because we didn’t attack the TTT hard enough. It was so fast on the way back that you could only make up small margins. We should have gone out harder to gain time early on.”
Plapp and Ineos Grenadiers will start stage 3 of the UAE Tour as race leaders but with Evenepoel breathing down their necks on the same time.
Intermediate time bonuses of three, two and one second are awarded twice during the 185 km stage to Jebel Jais could be hotly congested, with the first coming after just 36km of the stage. A second intermediate sprint comes after 128km, with time bonuses of ten, six and four seconds awarded at the finish line.
The Jebel Jais mountain stage will be a battle for every second.
“It’s awesome to be in this jersey and as a team we are in a really good spot now,” Plapp said, happy to be in a WorldTour leader’s jersey for the first time in his career.
"It’s the first leader’s jersey in my career and I’ll try and keep it as long as possible.
“I think it’s a mountain top finish and anything can happen. Then hopefully we have a few easier sprint days and then a big showdown on Jebel Hafeet. It’s going to set up a massive showdown for the next few days.
“Remco is definitely the overall favourite. He’s a class act - the world champion for a reason. For me, it’s a matter of holding on and seeing what I can do on the climbs. Stage 3 is a really interesting climb. If there’s a tailwind, it could be harder and could split, while if there’s a headwind it could stay together. We saw last year that Filippo Ganna made it to the finish.
“Unless there are more crosswinds, we can then let the sprinters have their fun and then it’ll be a showdown on Jebel Hafeet. A 20-minute test to see who is the best rider. You go as hard as you can and I’ll try and hang onto Remco.”
