Ben O'Connor to replace injured Luke Plapp on Australian team for Olympic Games road race
Western Australian to join Matthews and Clarke to team with 'options in different race scenarios'
![ROME ITALY MAY 26 Ben OConnor of Australia and Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team prior to the 107th Giro dItalia 2024 Stage 21 a 125km stage from Rome to Rome Palazzo della Civilt Italiana UCIWT on May 26 2024 in Rome Italy Photo by Dario BelingheriGetty Images](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/2PjT7EWeCEXu9MikFkadMS-320-80.jpg)
Australia has announced that an injured Luke Plapp will be replaced by Ben O'Connor in the men's road race at the Olympic Games on Saturday August 3.
Plapp, who crashed in the men's individual time trial on Saturday and had abdominal surgery later that night, was set to race alongside Simon Clarke in a support role for Michael Matthews, but he remains in hospital following the hard fall, necessitating a change of plan.
“Ben has performed strongly this season and is currently in top form,” said Chef de Mission Anna Meares in Paris. “He is very motivated to join his teammates for the road race.
"His talent and versatility provides the team with options in different race scenarios which is highly valuable in a race that has fewer athletes per nation and doesn’t permit the use of race radios by the athletes.”
O'Connor last raced at the Giro d'Italia, where he came fourth overall, in a continuation of the climbers powerful GC performances this year. The 28-year-old also took second place at the Tour of the Alps and UAE Tour this season and started his season with a win at the one-day Vuelta a Murcia.
The rider, who has both a Tour de France and Giro d'Italia stage victory on his palmarès, had been preparing for the Vuelta a España when he was pulled into the team for the 273km event, where Matthews is among the contenders.
It will be O’Connor’s first Olympic Games as he replaces Plapp on medical grounds.
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Plapp, who raced in Tokyo on the track, came down after delivering a strong performance in the opening stages of the wet time trial. He posted the fourth best time at the first checkpoint at 13km into the 32km race against the clock.
“Luke is receiving the best of care in hospital and is being well supported by our medical team,” said Meares. “We expect he'll be out of hospital this week and wish him a speedy recovery.”
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Simone is a degree-qualified journalist that has accumulated decades of wide-ranging experience while working across a variety of leading media organisations. She joined Cyclingnews as a Production Editor at the start of the 2021 season and has now moved into the role of Australia Editor. Previously she worked as a freelance writer, Australian Editor at Ella CyclingTips and as a correspondent for Reuters and Bloomberg. Cycling was initially purely a leisure pursuit for Simone, who started out as a business journalist, but in 2015 her career focus also shifted to the sport.