Latest news with #JaycoAlUla
ABC News
a day ago
- Sport
- ABC News
Luke Plapp's incredible mountain time trial in vain as Tadej Pogačar continues to dominate Tour de France
Australian champion Luke Plapp has delivered an exceptional mountain time trial at the Tour de France — but it was still a mere sideshow to yet another sublime stage triumph for runaway leader Tadej Pogačar. The 24-year-old Plapp gave everything to finish fifth over the unforgiving 10.9km uphill slog against the clock from Loudenvielle to the Pyrenean ski resort Peyragudes. The Melburnian found himself leading for a couple of hours from all challengers after covering the brutal course in 24 minutes and 58 seconds, until the Tour's biggest guns came down the ramp among the final 10 starters. And while Germany's Florian Lipowitz (24:56), five-time Grand Tour champ Primoz Roglic (24:20) and two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard (23:36) all surpassed the Australian's time, it was Pogačar who once again showed them all he was in a different league as he clocked 23 minutes dead. It was his fourth stage victory of the Tour that he's turning into a one-man super show as he put another 36 seconds into his advantage over Vingegaard, who's now 4 minutes and 7 seconds behind with the toughest stages still to come. Plapp, the big engine of the Australian Jayco AlUla team, had won the national time trial championship at the start of the year and annexed his first Grand Tour stage win at the Giro d'Italia. This time, he had focused all his energies on this stage. "The last minute, though, was painful, but all in all I enjoyed the race, nevertheless," he said. "I've missed the break these last few stages, and that enabled me to take it easy in the grupetto. I'll definitely be feeling today's effort in my legs tomorrow … but anyway, I wanted to represent the colours (of the Australian flag) well and I'm happy." He predicted, as he sat in the provisional leader's chair watching the rest of the field trying to catch him, that the winner would be "a minute or minute-and-a-half quicker", but Pogačar was so brilliant he ended up almost two minutes faster. Yet Plapp earned one big scalp in particular, as he proved 41 seconds quicker than Olympic champ Remco Evenepoel, who was suffering on the climb and only just clung on to his third place in the GC, now a massive 7:24 behind Pogačar. Lipowitz is just six seconds off a podium place. Pogačar's latest amazing display came just a day after he had destroyed the field on the famed Hautacam climb, and he reckoned his 21st Tour stage win felt just as sweet. "I'm super happy. I wanted everything to be perfect. I almost blew up in the end, but I saw the timer at the top and it gave me an extra push because I saw I'm gonna win," said the 26-year-old who is set to be crowned champ for a fourth time. AAP
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Happy' Plappy shines at Tour as Pogacar reigns supreme
Australian champion Luke Plapp has delivered an exceptional mountain time trial at the Tour de France -- but it was still a mere sideshow to yet another sublime stage triumph for runaway leader Tadej Pogacar. The 24-year-old Plapp gave everything to finish fifth over the unforgiving 10.9km uphill slog against the clock from Loudenvielle to the Pyrenean ski resort Peyragudes on Friday. The Melburnian found himself leading for a couple of hours from all challengers after covering the brutal course in 24 minutes 58 seconds, until the Tour's biggest guns came down the ramp among the final 10 starters. 🇦🇺 Luke Plapp sets a fantastic 2nd intermediate time, 1' ahead of Van Eetvelt's time!🇦🇺 Luke Plapp signe un 2ème intermédiaire canon avec 1' d'avance sur le temps de Van Eetvelt !#TDF2025 — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 18, 2025 And while Germany's Florian Lipowitz (24:56), five-time Grand Tour champ Primoz Roglic (24:20) and two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard (23:36) all surpassed the Australian's time, it was Pogacar who once again showed them all he was in a different league as he clocked 23 minutes dead. It was his fourth stage victory of the Tour that he's turning into a one-man supershow as he put another 36 seconds into his advantage over Vingegaard, who's now four minutes and seven seconds behind with the toughest stages still to come. Plapp, the big engine of the Australian Jayco AlUla team, had won the national time trial championship at the start of the year and annexed his first Grand Tour stage win at the Giro d'Italia. This time, he had focused all his energies on this stage. "The last minute, though, was painful, but all in all I enjoyed the race, nevertheless," he said. 🇦🇺 Luke Plapp just chillin' in the hot seat 😎 🇦🇺 Luke Plapp très détendu sur le hot seat#TDF2025 — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 18, 2025 "I've missed the break these last few stages, and that enabled me to take it easy in the grupetto. I'll definitely be feeling today's effort in my legs tomorrow … but anyway, I wanted to represent the colours (of the Australian flag) well and I'm happy." He predicted, as he sat in the provisional leader's chair watching the rest of the field trying to catch him, that the winner would be "a minute or minute-and-a-half quicker", but Pogacar was so brilliant he ended up almost two minutes faster. Yet Plapp earned one big scalp in particular, as he proved 41 seconds quicker than Olympic champ Remco Evenepoel, who was suffering on the climb and only just clung on to his third place in the GC, now a massive 7:24 behind Pogacar. Lipowitz is just six seconds off a podium place. Pogacar's latest amazing display came just a day after he had destroyed the field on the famed Hautacam climb, and he reckoned his 21st Tour stage win felt just as sweet. "I'm super happy. I wanted everything to be perfect. I almost blew up in the end but I saw the timer at the top and it gave me an extra push because I saw I'm gonna win," said the 26-year-old who is set to be crowned champ for a fourth time.
Perth Now
2 days ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
'Happy' Plappy shines at Tour as Pogacar reigns supreme
Australian champion Luke Plapp has delivered an exceptional mountain time trial at the Tour de France -- but it was still a mere sideshow to yet another sublime stage triumph for runaway leader Tadej Pogacar. The 24-year-old Plapp gave everything to finish fifth over the unforgiving 10.9km uphill slog against the clock from Loudenvielle to the Pyrenean ski resort Peyragudes on Friday. The Melburnian found himself leading for a couple of hours from all challengers after covering the brutal course in 24 minutes 58 seconds, until the Tour's biggest guns came down the ramp among the final 10 starters. And while Germany's Florian Lipowitz (24:56), five-time Grand Tour champ Primoz Roglic (24:20) and two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard (23:36) all surpassed the Australian's time, it was Pogacar who once again showed them all he was in a different league as he clocked 23 minutes dead. It was his fourth stage victory of the Tour that he's turning into a one-man supershow as he put another 36 seconds into his advantage over Vingegaard, who's now four minutes and seven seconds behind with the toughest stages still to come. Plapp, the big engine of the Australian Jayco AlUla team, had won the national time trial championship at the start of the year and annexed his first Grand Tour stage win at the Giro d'Italia. This time, he had focused all his energies on this stage. "The last minute, though, was painful, but all in all I enjoyed the race, nevertheless," he said. "I've missed the break these last few stages, and that enabled me to take it easy in the grupetto. I'll definitely be feeling today's effort in my legs tomorrow … but anyway, I wanted to represent the colours (of the Australian flag) well and I'm happy." He predicted, as he sat in the provisional leader's chair watching the rest of the field trying to catch him, that the winner would be "a minute or minute-and-a-half quicker", but Pogacar was so brilliant he ended up almost two minutes faster. Yet Plapp earned one big scalp in particular, as he proved 41 seconds quicker than Olympic champ Remco Evenepoel, who was suffering on the climb and only just clung on to his third place in the GC, now a massive 7:24 behind Pogacar. Lipowitz is just six seconds off a podium place. Pogacar's latest amazing display came just a day after he had destroyed the field on the famed Hautacam climb, and he reckoned his 21st Tour stage win felt just as sweet. "I'm super happy. I wanted everything to be perfect. I almost blew up in the end but I saw the timer at the top and it gave me an extra push because I saw I'm gonna win," said the 26-year-old who is set to be crowned champ for a fourth time.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pogacar emotional after death of Aussie team cyclist
Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar has marked his latest extraordinary triumph by dedicating it to 19-year-old Samuele Privitera, the youngster who died in a crash while racing for Australian outfit Jayco AlUla's development team in Italy. Cyclists at the Tour de France were left crestfallen at the news of the teenage Italian's death during the first stage of the Tour of Valle D'Aosta in the north-western municipality of Pontey on Wednesday. The Tour de France peloton gathered to give a minute's applause before they began the 12th stage on Thursday, and then champion and new race leader Pogacar paid his own emotional tribute after his stunning victory on the Hautacam climb. 🗣️ "This climb came in 2022, I was behind in the GC, I was trying to break through the wall to get back the yellow jersey but Jumbo (Visma-LAB) were too strong back then. I already forgot about this, I was just looking forward to today. But I had people coming to me saying: 'This… — Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 17, 2025 The Slovenian all-time great said he had been thinking of the youngster for the last kilometre of his brilliant solo win. "I think this stage can go to Samuele and all his family," said the visibly emotional Pogacar afterwards. "It was really sad, the first thing I read in the morning, and I was thinking the last kilometre about him and how tough this sport can be and how much pain it can cause." The UCI is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Under-23 cyclist Samuele thoughts are with his family, friends, teammates and everyone who supported him. Samuele's loss is felt across the cycling community.📸 @HBAxeon / Joe Cotterill — UCI (@UCI_cycling) July 17, 2025 Before the day's stage, he had added: "It's really sad to lose another young talent today, it's devastating. "It is one of the most dangerous sports in the world, and the risk that we are taking sometimes is too far. But I'm really, really really sad for all his family. May he rest in peace." Privitera had been part of the Hagens Berman Jayco team, the development team for Australia's only WorldTour team Jayco AlUla, whose riders, headed by their world championship silver medallist Ben O'Connor, all wore black armbands on Thursday's stage. "Samuele was and always will be the life and personality of this team," Hagens Berman Jayco team director Axel Merckx said in a statement. "This team has always been a small family, and moments like this are unimaginable. He was irreplaceable. His joy, his spirit, his kindness, was always a bright light to whatever room or race that he was in at that moment. To lose him is devastating beyond words. Statement regarding Hagens Berman Jayco rider Samuele Privitera — GreenEDGE Cycling (@GreenEDGEteam) July 16, 2025 Italian media reported that Privitera had crashed on a descent about 35km from the finish in Aosta at a speed of almost 70kph. He reportedly lost his helmet and crashed into a barrier. Race organisers said on Thursday the circumstances of the accident were "still unclear and are being investigated by public safety authorities". The second stage of the Tour of Valle D'Aosta was cancelled after the tragedy, with teams given a choice about whether to continue with the third stage on Friday.
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Sport
- Perth Now
Pogacar emotional after death of Aussie team cyclist
Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar has marked his latest extraordinary triumph by dedicating it to 19-year-old Samuele Privitera, the youngster who died in a crash while racing for Australian outfit Jayco AlUla's development team in Italy. Cyclists at the Tour de France were left crestfallen at the news of the teenage Italian's death during the first stage of the Tour of Valle D'Aosta in the north-western municipality of Pontey on Wednesday. The Tour de France peloton gathered to give a minute's applause before they began the 12th stage on Thursday, and then champion and new race leader Pogacar paid his own emotional tribute after his stunning victory on the Hautacam climb. The Slovenian all-time great said he had been thinking of the youngster for the last kilometre of his brilliant solo win. "I think this stage can go to Samuele and all his family," said the visibly emotional Pogacar afterwards. "It was really sad, the first thing I read in the morning, and I was thinking the last kilometre about him and how tough this sport can be and how much pain it can cause." Before the day's stage, he had added: "It's really sad to lose another young talent today, it's devastating. "It is one of the most dangerous sports in the world, and the risk that we are taking sometimes is too far. But I'm really, really really sad for all his family. May he rest in peace." Privitera had been part of the Hagens Berman Jayco team, the development team for Australia's only WorldTour team Jayco AlUla, whose riders, headed by their world championship silver medallist Ben O'Connor, all wore black armbands on Thursday's stage. "Samuele was and always will be the life and personality of this team," Hagens Berman Jayco team director Axel Merckx said in a statement. "This team has always been a small family, and moments like this are unimaginable. He was irreplaceable. His joy, his spirit, his kindness, was always a bright light to whatever room or race that he was in at that moment. To lose him is devastating beyond words. Italian media reported that Privitera had crashed on a descent about 35km from the finish in Aosta at a speed of almost 70kph. He reportedly lost his helmet and crashed into a barrier. Race organisers said on Thursday the circumstances of the accident were "still unclear and are being investigated by public safety authorities". The second stage of the Tour of Valle D'Aosta was cancelled after the tragedy, with teams given a choice about whether to continue with the third stage on Friday.
