Luke Plapp: "Pogačar's dominance will open up the race and give us more opportunities"

Grand Tours are a veritable black hole of time. Once you enter them, all sense of reality dissolves into a vortex of pedaling, eating, and resting. Eat, sleep, race, repeat. At this point in the race, Luke Plapp admits he doesn't even know what day of the week it is , but he knows for certain that the first rest day of the Tour de France is approaching. And after more than a week of grueling racing, he certainly deserves it. A moment to unplug, get a few extra hours of sleep, maybe take a quiet ride with his teammates and hear the voices of distant friends and family.

This is the Australian Jayco-AlUla rider's second Tour de France, and compared to last season's debut, everything feels more manageable. Last year, there was almost overwhelming excitement, a myriad of expectations, and a lot of uncertainty. Plapp doesn't yet call himself a veteran of the Grande Boucle, but he's clearly found his rhythm and is handling the stress of the race with much more control.

The first week flew by in a flash. The first stage team time trial , starting in Barcelona, ​​already seems like a distant memory, almost as if it belonged to another life, yet I've already put over a thousand kilometers into my legs. Opening the Tour in the Catalan capital was a special feeling, made even more intense by the crowds that filled every street corner. Plapp's ears were still ringing hours after the finish line, so loud was the noise from the fans.

Regarding the team time trial, Plapp is categorical: it's the most beautiful discipline in cycling , no doubt about it. Jayco-AlUla has long believed in it, has been working on this format with dedication, and had prepared for the stage with a small training camp in Girona in the days leading up to the race to fine-tune every detail. Despite lacking a captain for the general classification, the team chose to risk everything for a strong result. Tenth place isn't the result they'd hoped for, but the spirit with which it was achieved bodes well for the rest of the race.

On the tactical front, the first week saw the major classification teams, especially UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma-Lease a Bike , keep the race under tight control, neutralizing any breakaway attempts. The Tourmalet episode, with Ben O'Connor trying to break away and immediately being caught, is the most glaring example. But according to Plapp, this isn't necessarily bad news for him and his teammates.

Indeed, the reasoning is subtle and interesting from a fantasy cycling perspective: now that Tadej Pogačar and the UAE have consolidated such a clear lead in the general classification , it's likely that the leading teams will loosen their grip in the coming stages, leaving more room for breakaways. The second week, and especially the final part of the Tour, could therefore offer many more opportunities for riders like Plapp, ready to join strong breakaways. This is an element that should definitely be taken into consideration by fantasy cycling enthusiasts.

There's another factor not to be underestimated: the heat . High temperatures dominated the race week and became the main topic of conversation in the peloton. Ice packs in the neck brace, water bottles inverted over the head: any strategy is valid for keeping body temperature low. But Plapp, accustomed to Australian summers, says he feels comfortable in these conditions. In fact, the heat favors his ability to recover compared to other runners who are less accustomed to it. If the high temperatures persist into the second week, they could become a competitive advantage for the Melbourne runner.

Fantasy managers : Keep an eye on Luke Plapp on the breakaway stages over the next two weeks. His team has no GC objectives and will actively try to send him into a breakaway. You might consider using him as captain on one of the attacker stages.

Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency