Australian champion Luke Plapp looked set to put in a strong performance in the individual time trial at the Paris Olympics after moving up a good position in the standings following the first time check, but his race came to an abrupt end after a crash in wet and slippery conditions.
The video did not show how the crash happened, but social media showed Plapp being carefully helped by the Australian support team near a barrier on the rain-soaked road. The crash happened as he was heading into the technical section, halfway through the course, and he was forced to retire.
“Plapp was taken to hospital, where he remains in a stable condition pending test results,” AusCycling said in an initial press release.
The Australian team later sent an update saying: “23-year-old cyclist Lucas Plapp underwent abdominal surgery this evening in a Paris hospital after crashing in wet conditions during the men’s individual road time trial.
“Plapp slipped under a barrier shortly after passing the first checkpoint, about 14 kilometres into the 32-kilometre course. His parents and an Australian team doctor were at the hospital with him.”
The team added that no further medical details were available for release at this stage.
The current national time trial and road champion was the 26th rider out of 34 to start the 32.4 km time trial, which was won by world champion Remco Evenepoel (Belgium). Plapp was just one second behind bronze medallist Wout van Aert (Belgium) when he passed the first time check at 13.1 km and was in fourth place at that point behind Evenepoel and silver medallist Filippo Ganna (Italy) once all the riders had passed.
That first intermediate point had raised hopes that Australia, who had already won gold with Grace Brown in the women’s time trial, could also be on course for another medal in the men’s event on Saturday. However, there was no sign of Plapp on the results at the second intermediate point at 22km, with news of his crash emerging later.
Plapp had entered the Olympics with a strong run of time trials, starting with his reclaiming of the national title in January and then finishing seventh and fifth in the time trial stages at the Giro d’Italia. It gave him a final boost heading into the Olympics in a season where he had sharpened his focus on the discipline.
The Victoria rider won Olympic bronze on the track as part of the Tokyo Olympics team pursuit squad, but his attention has turned to the road in 2024, with Plapp also listed for the men’s elite road race on Saturday August 3. The original plan for that event, before the crash, was for Plapp to ride in support of Michael Matthews, alongside Simon Clarke.
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