Weening quickly realized Plapp would be unstoppable: "Man, my legs feel amazing"

Though Plapp had already won several national titles early in his career as a professional road cyclist, his first international victories had taken longer to arrive. They finally came this year, first in the Tour of Hellas and now with his win in stage eight of the Giro d’Italia — his first at a truly high level. “It’s crazy, I can hardly believe it,” said Plapp in the flash interview.

“It feels like it has been a long time coming,” he continued. “I always focused heavily on the Australian summer but just couldn’t manage to get results in Europe.” Last season, Plapp had already come close several times, including in the Giro, where he finished in the top ten on four occasions, with third place as his best result. “To finally pull it off today is really special.”

Plapp and his Jayco AlUla team had marked the stage to Castelraimondo as a big opportunity in advance. “We targeted this stage a few weeks ago, and this morning we were super motivated. To actually win it now. It’s a dream come true,” said a beaming Plapp.

Stage eight was the first real chance for breakaway specialists, and as expected, there was a massive fight to get into the break. “Man… The battle to get into the break was insane. It just kept going… At times I was nearly dropped myself. Eventually, I gave it one last go and made it into a big group. It was such a fight, but in the end, it was all worth it. And to have Koen (Bouwman, ed.) alongside me was amazing,” Plapp said, praising his Dutch teammate.

With 45 kilometers to go, Plapp launched his attack from a group containing Kelderman, Diego Ulissi, and Igor Arrieta — just after he had clawed his way back to the leaders. But Plapp knew he couldn’t wait for a sprint finish. “There’s no way I was going to beat them in a sprint,” he said with a laugh, explaining his tactic. “So I had to try something early. You’ve seen it all season. Early attacks have been super successful. I had that in the back of my mind. The first move often pays off.”

Plapp’s season had started with several setbacks, and even the Giro itself began with bad luck — he crashed during the time trial on stage two, ironically in the discipline he excels at. That made this victory all the more meaningful. “The lows in cycling can be so incredibly deep, and the time between highs can be so long. That’s what makes a result like this so amazing,” Plapp concluded.

Team director Pieter Weening followed the action closely from the team car. “It was a really fast start,” the former pro recalled in a conversation with Eurosport. “The spot where the breakaway formed was pretty tough, so we knew the guys at the front were all strong. The seven who got away were all quality riders.”

But Plapp didn’t seem too concerned about the competition, according to Weening. “We knew Luke was strong, too. When I told him not to waste too much energy, he replied, ‘Man, my legs feel amazing.’ From that moment on, we knew he was feeling good.” At the foot of the third-category climb, Kelderman and Ulissi made early moves. “We told Luke to ride it like a time trial to the top. We’d see what happened. By the summit, he had already built a lead of 15 to 20 seconds. And he held it all the way to the line. It was a really impressive ride,” Weening said, full of praise.

In the final stretch, Weening’s instructions helped guide Plapp to a brilliant win. “We encouraged him to go full gas on the climbs, because he could recover a little in the descents. In the last five or six kilometers, we backed off a bit. No more risks. We wanted to play it safe and secure the victory.”