During his hour long solo ride to victory in stage 8 of the 2025 Giro d’Italia, Luke Plapp had plenty of time to meditate on those who had helped him find a way to his first ever Grand Tour stage triumph, and amongst them, it came as no surprise that he had many special words of thanks for former Jayco-AlUla team manager Matt White.
After more than a decade in charge, White had a shock departure from the Jayco-AlUla management team just a few days before the Giro, with the full reasons for his surprise exit yet to be disclosed.
Before the Giro and with the dust yet to begin to settle on White leaving the team, Plapp had logically not been willing to comment on the question.
But as he savoured the biggest victory of his career to date, the 24-year-old was anything but reserved in saying how important White had been in building his Giro success from before he was even of the team.
“Whitey, for myself, he was a massive reason for when I was a Junior aged 12 and starting out in the sport, [I’d be] watching the Back Stage Passes [Jayco Youtube documentary series] and wanting to become a part of this team,” Plapp recounted.
“I think the Aussive [team cycling] culture he created and everyone in the team created was something that I always aspired to wanting to be a part of. So when the opportunity arose 18 months ago to join the team, I jumped straight on it.”
“So I’ve got Whitey to thank for not only what he’s done for me in the last 18 months, but also for Australian cycling and I think for encouraging people to look at this team and have some fun.
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“So I thank him for so much, both for what he’s done for the team and me personally.”
On Friday, Jayco not only celebrated the Giro stage win, the team were also victorious with Dylan Groenewegen winning the stage 4 sprint in the Tour of Hungary.
“Dylan got a win today, and that’s super special. I got a win today, so I think we’re moving forward really well, building up for the Tour. It’s exciting for the team, we had a slow start, and now we’re starting to build,” Plapp said.
The wrist injury
Plapp told Cyclingnews pre-Giro that as a result of the recovery from an operation on a lingering wrist injury, he had been aiming to go for breaks in the second or third week, but finally it paid off on stage 8.
“Since the last few days and on the bus this morning, this was a day that we tried to target,” Plapp said.
“Whether I believed or not that it was possible is another thing. But to make it happen as a team and for the whole team is super-super special.”
In terms of how he handled his effort given the lingering effects of his wrist injury, Plapp said that he had also had to deal with a cramp in his left leg throughout his breakaway.
“I was trying to go as hard as possible without going over the limit. And to be honest, my wrist is going to be giving me trouble for a long, long time to come.
“I have to tape it up every training ride and race and it’s still quite sore. It was funny, I was even getting some warnings from the race commissaires for not holding onto the bars properly, but I couldn’t do that because of the pain in my wrist.
“So it’s troubling me a little bit, but at the end of the day, I’m still racing and getting through; it’s probably going to be going on like that until the end of the season.”
To be able to handle that injury and still triumph in such a tough stage of the Giro with nearly 4,000 metres of vertical climbing only made it all more significant, Plapp confirmed, and he once again paid tribute to those who had stood by him throughout his recovery period.
“To make today happen is super-super special not just for me, but for everybody who’s stuck by me, whether it’s my family, my girlfriend and my team. We’ve not had an amazing year in the team and there’s been a lot of restructuring, so this is for everyone, hey – it’s not for me.”
Apart from his comments on White, Plapp was also asked if he had thoughts for Italian Alessandro de Marchi, his vastly experienced Jayco teammate, who had been expected to take part in the Giro in his final year before retiring.
“Dema was part of the Giro team last year, in my first time racing here and with him, he’s an amazing guy, he’s so so talented. I only found out that he wasn’t taking part at the same time as you guys,” Plapp told reporters.
“I can see him training so hard even now and hopefully he’ll get his opportunity to finish off his season super-strong, whether it’s at the Tour or Vuelta.
“He’s a champion of the sport, I’m sure he wishes he was here and everyone here does as well. But his career and chapter’s not over yet and I’m sure he’ll show everyone one more time what he’s capable of doing.”
Even as the 38-year-old De Marchi is closing in on retirement, Plapp, 14 years his junior, made another landmark in his career with his first Grand Tour stage victory. Taking a stage victory in the Tour of Hellas this spring helped personally confirm he was on the way back after the operation on his injured wrist late this January, but as Plapp said, getting the Giro victory was a major milestone in anyone’s book.
“I think winning in Greece [the Tour of Hellas] was a good monkey to get off my back, but as for here, like my good mate [and former winner of the Giro best young rider classification] Richie Porte put it, hopefully the floodgates will open now.”
“It’s a super-super special win. It means a lot, and hopefully it can give me a lot of confidence going forward.”
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