Luke Plapp Wins Third-Straight Road Cycling Championship 2024
Written by Henry Yates | 6ft8photographer
Australian Road Racing Champion Luke Plapp (Jayco Alula) wins the 2024 Federation University Road National Championships with his teammate Chris Harper after a 103km breakaway effort in Ballarat, Victoria.
Luke Plapp and his teammate Chris Harper (Jayco Alula) celebrating his Plapp’s third-straight Road National Championship win. Picture: Henry Yates| 6ft8photographer
Camera: Sony A7R4 | G-MASTER 400mm | 1/1500sec, F - 5.6, ISO 400
Tip: As this race was a clear win and becasue I wanted to show the context of spectators and finish line flag. I took the shot early capturing the best celebration moment that showed context of the event.
The 2024 Road Race National Championship began is cloudy, yet muggy conditions with 96 riders on the start line for the 185.6km, 16 lap race around Buninyong, Ballarat.
The pace was high from the start with riders getting dropped within the first few laps, by lap three a 14 man breakaway formed with a handful of notable riders including Sam Welsford, Simon Clarke, Mark O’Brien, Tristan Saunders and Rudy Porter.
Rudy Porter (Jayco Alula) leading the 14 rider break up Mount Buninyong, Plapp on the right bridges the gap between the Peloton. Picture: Henry Yates| 6ft8photographer
Camera: Sony A7R4 | G-MASTER 200mm | 1/1500sec, F - 5.6, ISO 400
Tip: This scene has more light, so I dropped the ISO to retain image quality. The lack of depth is in part due to lens compression, and I lowered F-stop to allow more light to enter the lens given the conditions.
To the right of this photo, you’ll see Plapp make an effort to bridge the gap between the newly found breakaway and peloton, in doing so Chris Hamilton rides across with him (see as the last rider).
Luke Plapp and Chris Harper rolling into the Feed Zone with their team car the Citroen C5 X in the background. Picture: Henry Yates| 6ft8photographer
Camera: Sony A7R4 | G-MASTER 100mm | 1/1500sec, F - 4.5, ISO 640
Tip: Due to the lack of light, I needed to increase the ISO to compensate for the higher shutter speed.
As the race progressed to 122km to go Harper began an offensive descent down Mount Buninyong with Sam Weslford, which was later countered by Plapp 20 kilometers down the road, which saw Plapp passing both Harper & Welsford ahead of Plapp and Harper’s huge 103km breakaway which lead to the eventual win.
Lap by lap, Plapp and Harper continued to increase their breakaway to a massive seven minutes ahead of the peloton at one point.
Kelland O’Brien leading the chase group in the final laps with Chris Hamilton and Elliot Schultz. Picture: Henry Yates| 6ft8photographer
Camera: Sony A7R4 | G-MASTER 400mm | 1/1500sec, F - 5.6, ISO 800
Tip: Due to the lack of light and distance from the subject I needed to increase the ISO to compensate for the high aperture aka F stop.
Following Harper and Plapp’s offensive attack from the 14 man breakaway, the group split apart seeing a trio consisting of Kelland O’Brien, Chris Hamilton and Elliot Schultz creating a chase group that stayed together for the sprint for third place where O’Brien out sprinted the others making it an even more momentous win for Jayco Alula with a full team podium.
Luke Plapp holing his gold medal from the 2024 National Road Series Championship in Ballarat. Picture: Henry Yates| 6ft8photographer
Camera: Sony A7R4 | G-MASTER 24-70mm | 1/1000sec, F - 4.0, ISO 800
The raining race conditions combined with the effective teamwork from the Jayco Alula team saw Luke Plapp take his third back to back win in the 2024 Road Race National Championships.
Results: Elite Men Road Race
Lucas PLAPP (Team Jayco AlUla) 4h34:26
Chris HARPER (Team Jayco AlUla) +0
Kelland O'BRIEN (Team Jayco AlUla) +6:09
Elliot SCHULTZ (Team BridgeLane) +6:09
Chris HAMILTON (Team DSM-Firmenich PostNL) +6:09
Liam WALSH (Team BridgeLane) +6:35
Simon CLARKE (Israel - Premier Tech) +6:35
Lucas HAMILTON (Team Jayco AlUla) +6:35
Nathan EARLE (JCL Team UKYO) +6:35
Tristan SAUNDERS (Team BridgeLane) +6:35
#LukePlapp #RoadNationalChampionships #2024