Luke Plapp (Team Jayco–AlUla) took a career-defining stage win at the Giro d'Italia after launching a stunning solo attack outside the final 40km on the hilly terrain of stage 8.
Plapp rode triumphantly into Castelraimondo with a gap of 38 seconds over Wilco Kelderman (Visma–Lease a Bike) in second place, while Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana) finished third. The two riders formed a chase from the fragments of a substantial 19-man breakaway that broke free outside 100km to go.
Plapp attacked over the summit of the category 3 climb of Montelago from a four-man attack and carved out an impressive gap through his heroic solo effort on the technical terrain that concluded the Apennine stage.
"I still can't believe it, to be honest," Plapp said following the race finish. "I feel like it's been a long time coming – always targeting the Aussie summer, and just never been able to make a result happen in Europe.
"Last year, got so close to the Giro so many times. And for today to happen is so, so special," he added.
"We marked it as a stage for a few weeks now, and then this morning on the bus," he added. "We're really, really excited to make it happen – it's a dream come true."
Asked why he decided to attack with 45km remaining, Plapp replied, "I knew I couldn't beat any of them in a sprint!"
He went on to say, "I think the way the racing has been going this year, the long moves, have been really, really successful. So I just thought I'd give it a crack. And to be honest, just wanted a bit of a head start on the descent as well. To stay away all the way to the finish is definitely not what I expected."
Speaking about his recent misfortune - a broken wrist in February and a fall on the opening time trial, Plapp said, "I mean, the lows in cycling are super, super low, and there's a long time between highs. So to have a result like this is amazing."
In the main group, Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) attacked on the final ascent, but a determined UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad ensured he was given no grace. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), however, managed to steal a few critical seconds from Roglic in the finishing sprint.
Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana) battled in the chase group, not only to reel in Plapp but in the hopes of claiming the maglia rosa from Primož Roglič - having been the best placed GC rider in the front groups.
His finishing margin of over four minutes over the maglia rosa group saw him take the race lead and pink jersey. He becomes the first Italian in four years to wear the leader's jersey.
How it unfolded
Primož Roglič in the maglia rosa before losing it to Ulissi (Image credit: Getty Images)
The peloton set off below a stunning blue sky in the coastal town of Giulianova. Ahead of them was a 197km jagged profile stage, punctuated with the cat 1 ascent of the Sassotetto almost dead centre of the day's route.
The climb's 13.1km at an average of 7.4% offered both the chance for breakaway success, or general classification disruption, and so it was no surprise that tensions were high in the undulating opening kilometres.
Despite countless attacks, surprisingly, it was the man who had worn the maglia rosa himself only 48 hours ago who established the day's first viable attack. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) carved a gap along with Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal-QuickStep) and Davide De Pretto (Jayco-AlUla).
The trio were the dominant attackers of the first 50km, but the ascent of Croce di Casale proved enough of a challenge to bring them back.
A brief move by Davide Piganzoli (Polti-VisitMalta), Alessandro Tonelli (Polti-VisitMalta) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) gained a mild lead over the summit, but the peloton soon pulled it in.
On the approach to the intermediate sprint of Sarnano, it was a small, uncategorised climb that provided the launching pad for the day's biggest breakaway, containing 19 riders.
Dylan van Baarle leads the day's big breakaway (Image credit: Getty Images)
That breakaway consisted of Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), Georg Steinhauser (EF Education - EasyPost), and Romain Bardet (Picnic PostNL), Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana), Jonathan Lastra (Team Cofidis), Sylvain Moniquet (Cofidis), Stefano Oldani (Team Cofidis), Nicolas Prodhomme (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team), Marco Frigo (Israel - Premier Tech), Davide Formolo (Movistar Team), Damien Howson (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team), Koen Bouwman (Team Jayco–AlUla), Luke Plapp (Team Jayco–AlUla), Wilco Kelderman (Visma–Lease a Bike), Dylan Van Baarle (Visma–Lease a Bike), Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group - Bardiani CSF - Faizanè).
Among the escapees, Romain Bardet proved to be the main aggressor of the day, forging a gap with Lorenzo Fortunato, Georg Steinhauser and Andrea Vendrame, before attacking solo from that group.
Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla), Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana), and Wilco Kelderman (Visma–Lease a Bike) bridged across to Bardet's group, before Bardet and Steinhauser found themselves distanced and pulled back to the fragmented breakaway remnants.
The new alliance at the front didn't last long, with Plapp attacking Kelderman, Arrieta and Ulissi over the summit of the category 3 climb of Montelago, and the Australian used the technical descent to pry a gap of 40 seconds as the race entered the final 30km.
A solo finale
Diego Ulissi chases into the maglia rosa with Wilco Kelderman (Image credit: Getty Images)
The peloton lingered 5:30 behind Plapp's solo lead, and with Fortunato sitting in the virtual lead, it was time for the major teams to consider the general classification gaps that may emerge on the stage.
Ahead, the winding route to Castelraimondo had just the category 3 climb to Gagliole within the final 10km, and Plapp showed no sign of losing his advantage, as he slipped over the one-minute mark entering the final 25km.
The trio of Kelderman, Arrieta and Ulissi rode in an impressively cohesive chase, but Plapp seemed fixed in an unstoppable rhythm upfront, even distancing the main peloton by over six minutes.
The chase also took on a new significance, with Italians Ulissi and Fortunato hovering in and out of the virtual race lead, meaning the pink jersey race was now to be determined between these two chase groups, both of which had formed from the day's original breakaway.
Arrieta did Ulissi no favours when he attacked the duo of Kelderman and Ulissi, grasping for sight of Plapp. Despite initially chipping into Plapp's leading margin, Arrieta was unable to make any serious challenge to the Australian's lead, while derailing the original rhythm of the three-man break. Ulissi probably wouldn't hold it against him, though, after claiming the maglia rosa only a few kilometres later.
With 10km left, only a small climb ahead of him and a gap of over a minute, Plapp was looking at an open road to stage victory, and all eyes were on the solo escapee.
Peter Stuart has been the editor of Cyclingnews since March 2022, overseeing editorial output across all of Cyclingnews' digital touchpoints.
Before joining Cyclingnews, Peter was the digital editor of Rouleur magazine. Starting life as a freelance feature writer, with bylines in The Times and The Telegraph, he first entered cycling journalism in 2012, joining Cyclist magazine as staff writer. Peter has a background as an international rower, representing Great Britain at Under-23 level and at the Junior Rowing World Championships.
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