Wandering around his bush block near Bright in Australia with its “lawn mower” sheep to supplement the ride on, mountainous surrounds and the hint of a stream trickling into a small dam, Luke Plapp is clearly at home.
“Honestly, I don’t think there’s a better place in the world,” the rider tells Cyclingnews at his rustic piece of bush paradise, or “my happy place,” as the rider puts it, while arranging to meet up for this interview at his off-season haven.
The raucous laughing song of a kookaburra adds another layer of Australiania to a scene already thick with it. Plapp, in his Akubra, pulls up a camp chair under the awning of his caravan – the classic Australian Jayco, of course – and, surveying the scene, it feels like a pretty sure bet that there would be Vegemite tucked somewhere in one of the cupboards and that the kangaroos will at some stage hop by to help the sheep with their mowing duties.
It is all too easy to see why Jayco-AlUla were inspired to welcome the rider into the fold with a social media skit which asked; what is the most Australian thing you can think of? Plapp was the answer they came up with, after kangaroos and Vegemite, of course.
The 22-year-old may have spent his first two seasons in the WorldTour with Ineos Grenadiers but was barely ever in the British-based team’s distinctive red and black kit – green and gold was the colour he moved through the peloton in instead after two back-to-back victories in the elite national championships road race.
The distinctive bands on the national jersey, the unique flora and fauna, or the ingrained local brand names may be obvious national hallmarks but just as clearly on display are some of the more nebulous characteristics of country living, mateship and the sense of community.
Plapp – who as a boy spent his early days learning how to race in the inner suburbs among the supportive environment of the Brunswick Cycling Club and the season jumping around the world – has quickly also become a proud advocate of the Alpine region. Last year, he decided to establish his Australian base there after having relished his childhood family trips to the place, where clear swimming holes dot the trout-filled waterways that wind their way through the bushland while breweries, restaurants and cafes dot the main street.
Though, more importantly for Plapp’s plans for the seasons ahead is that Bright and the area around it is far more than just a place to relax in.
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