Second-time Silver for Luke Plapp in U23 World Championship ITT

Lucas Plapp has won his second silver medal at a UCI Road World Championships, taking the runner-up spot in the Under-23 Men Individual Time Trial in Flanders yesterday.

As one of the early starters, the Victorian endured a long stint in the hot seat after setting the provisionally fastest time of 34:39.99 on the 30.3-kilometre course from Knokke-Heist to Bruges.

Plapp was second-quickest at the initial intermediate time check, before lifting his pace to finish with an average speed of 52.443km/h – the fastest recorded in Under-23 World Championship history.

With his effort complete, Plapp could do nothing but watch nervously as rider after rider arrived at the line. Yet none threatened his time until the final few competitors.

Belgium’s Florian Vermeersch and Norway’s Soeren Waerenskjold came desperately close to unseating Plapp, but only a powerful performance from the last rider of the day, Denmark’s Johan Price Pejtersen, could take the top spot from the Australian. In the end, the Dane beat Plapp by 10.24 seconds to claim the rainbow jersey.

While Plapp said he was “disappointed” with second, it was nevertheless a spectacular ride after fracturing his elbow five weeks ago.

The 20-year-old from Brunswick Cycling Club now has two World Championship silver medals to his name, having also placed second in the Junior Under-19 time trial in 2018.

Fellow Victorian Carter Turnbull produced a sterling performance to finish in 15th place after clocking 35:45.61 at an average speed of 50.83km/h. Like Plapp, Turnbull paced his effort near-perfectly, slightly increasing his speed throughout the effort.

The top-15 finish will give the St Kilda Cycling Club rider a great deal of confidence as he continues to develop in the under-23 ranks.

Lucas Plapp – 2nd

It’s a bit disappointing and frustrating coming second; it’s a similar feeling to three years ago.

But look, the ride he [Price Pejtersen] did to win was pretty unbelievable. When he told me the watts he did, that’s pretty insane. I don’t think anyone would’ve come close to that.

I can’t fault my ride either, so I think upon reflection, I’ll be pretty stoked. There was nowhere I could have made up that time. I was really happy with the execution of my ride today.

I don’t think I can be disappointed in the long run, but of course right now, I’m a bit disappointed and would’ve loved to win.

I think it just makes me more hungry, doesn’t it? I’d love to be able to go one better in Wollongong. To do it on home soil, that’s been a big goal of mine ever since it got released. I think this will just spur me on and make me hungrier for next year.

Carter Turnbull – 15th

I really enjoyed the experience of racing a Worlds time trial as it was like nothing I’ve ever done before. All the staff were amazing and allowed me to simply ride my bike as fast as I could.

Ultimately, I didn’t have the best legs on the day, so I’m a little disappointed due to that. But in the end, finishing in 15th is still a solid result and one that I can be pleased with.

It was awesome to see Luke run second to cap off a good day for us all.

The Under-23 Men will conclude their UCI Road World Championships campaign when Jarrad Drizners, Jensen Plowright and Alistair Mackellar tackle the road race on Friday. For more details, check out AusCycling's all-in-one-guide.

Photo: UCI