Luke Plapp hasn't pinned a number on since the time trial crash in Paris that left him having to bow out of two big season goals – the Olympic Games and the Road World Championships – but after three months of recovery, he will get to pin on a number in the WorldTour again before the season is out.
The Jayco-AlUla rider will be chasing the general classification at the Gree-Tour of Guangxi, hoping to finish yet another year of international racing in the green and gold jersey of the Australian champion on a high note.
"I’m really excited to be back racing and in the peloton," said Plapp in a team media release on his return from the late July crash, in which he slid under a barrier fence requiring surgery due to the injuries he sustained to his abdomen.
"It’s been a long three months since having surgery and recovering from the Olympics, so I just can’t wait to be back racing. I’ve had a good month back on the bike and it feels like a start to a brand-new season now!"
In some ways, it almost is. Last year for Plapp the Tour of Guangxi marked the last race with what were then his Ineos Grenadiers teammates. It ended with a DNF on stage 4, though this year it marks the start of the rebuild with his new team, Jayco-AlUla.
The ramp-up always begins earlier for those aiming to be on form for the Australian summer of racing in January, a key priority for the home team. The top-level racing starts with the battle for the National Championships jerseys, beginning on January 8, and Plapp before that generally adds in a crowd-pleasing early December master class at the state series race of the Tour of Bright to add an extra bit of spark to the training build.
"I’m really looking forward to racing in China and giving it a real red-hot crack," the three-time Australian road champion said of the six-stage race which delivers a summit finish on day five that is likely to be crucial in the overall standings.
"I'm hoping to have some good legs and see where I can finish on the climb," added Plapp. "We have a super group of boys and always nice to have multiple Aussies at the race, so it is going to be a ripper trip away and fingers crossed we can find some results throughout."
Plapp will be racing alongside compatriots Blake Quick, Lucas Hamilton and Callum Scotson – who will be heading to Decathlon AG2R Mondiale next season – and they will also be joined by Ethiopia's Welay Hagos Berhe, Dutch rider Jan Maas and Norway's Amund Grøndahl Jansen.
The race starts on Tuesday, on the coast in the south of Guangxi at Fangchenggang, and it finishes in Nanning on Sunday October 20, closing the 2024 WorldTour season.
