National Championships 2022 – Australia – Road Race [FULL RACE]

January 16, 2022

National Championships 2022 – Australia – Buninyong – Buninyong : 185,6 km

The AusCycling Road National Championships will return to its early January time-slot in 2022 – after having run in February in 2021 – with the opening up of the international border and easing of quarantine restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic likely to make it easier for European-based professional riders to return to take part in the competition for a national title. The event, run in and around Ballarat, starts with the individual time trials, moves onto the criteriums in the heart of the Victorian city and then finishes with the elite road races. These will return to the traditional circuit starting and finishing in the small town of Buninyong, with its repeats of the Mount Buninyong climb wearing down riders and reducing the peloton as the laps go on.

Luke Plapp (Ineos Grenadiers) will wear the green and gold striped jersey of the Australian champion in his first year as a WorldTour professional after chasing down James Whelan (Team BridgeLane) on the final climb and then riding straight on by to take a solo win at the elite men’s road race at the Federation University Road National Championships.

Whelan, who up until last year was riding for EF Education-Nippo, held on for second after spending around 30km out the front on a hot day in Buninyong, while mountain biker Brendan Johnston took third after jumping away from the chase group before the second last climb.

Plapp wasn’t able to defend his elite time trial title on Wednesday, after being in isolation after coming in close contact with a COVID-19 case, but could return in time for the road race and as a result still managed to carve out another year in the jersey of the Australian national champion.

“I couldn’t ask for a better start,” Plapp said, immediately after calling his new team to share the news of his win. “It was just awesome fun out there, I’ve dreamt of this one for a while. It was a shame to miss the TT but to make up for it here in the road race, nothing beats it.”

As the final laps ticked down it turned into a battle between two riders, with Plapp going out in pursuit of Whelan with less than three laps to go. It quickly became a battle between the new WorldTour professional and Whelan, a rider who had just come out of the top tier after failing to find a contract for 2022.

However, when Plapp caught Wheelan on that final climb, having carved the gap down to just 10 seconds as the bell rang to signal the last lap, there was no stopping him. The rider who was swamped last year after going solo much earlier in the race, had timed his run to perfection.

“With six to go, five to go, four to go I was like ‘ohh this is it, this is it, this is it’ but was like ‘nah I can’t do it. I can’t make the same mistake as last year’ and I think I took a lot of learning from last year,” Plapp said. “So to be able to do it today and be really patient, I couldn’t be happier. I was just glad. You learn from your mistakes, and I didn’t make the same mistake twice.”

How it played out
The field that lined up to start the 185.6 kilometres race in Buninyong had a markedly different composition to usual. Australia’s only WorldTour squad, BikeExchange-Jayco, usually deliver a clear race favourite, bringing strength and numbers to tackle the 16 laps of the 11.6 kilometre loop. This COVID-19 pandemic impacted year, though, they were lining up with only three and their numbers were nearly matched by the two strong Jumbo-Visma squad of Rohan Dennis and Chris Harper.

There were also a number of solo WorldTour riders, from Plapp and Chris Hamilton (Team DSM) trying to make a mark against the well represented domestic teams, like Whelan’s new squad Team BridgeLane. That made it an unpredictable race; with so many riders sensing a chance, the moves just kept coming.

A seven-man group got away early, but didn’t last, with the one that stuck being an early break of two with Kane Richards (ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast) and Jean-Pierre van der Merwe (Team BridgeLane) stretching out the gap beyond four minutes with 13 laps to go. There was also a chase of two behind, Brendon Green (Cycling Development Foundation) and Andrew Friebe (University of Queensland), but as the kilometres to go ticked down Friebe drifted. Then when Jumbo-Visma started to crank up the pace on the climb at the halfway mark, all the riders in the middle were swept up.

By the ninth lap the gap to lead riders Richards and van der Merwe was down to just over a minute as the pressure was again on the front, with Dennis repeatedly turning up the heat on the 30°C plus day as he worked to toughen and split the race for his new teammate Harper. A chase group of more than ten formed, including Harper, Chris Hamilton (Team DSM), Durbridge, criterium title winner Cameron Ivory (St George Continental Team), Nick White and a number of Team BridgeLane teammates, plus, Brendan Johnston.

Then over the next laps the front of the race came back together, with the pair out the front swept up and lead group continuing to swell. Defending champion Cameron Meyer (BikeExchange-Jayco), newly signed Ineos Grenadiers rider Luke Plapp and Dennis, were among those who joined to make a bunch that was now around 30 strong while Whelan jumped out the front solo, a move he would repeat later in the race. A group of four then joined Whelan – Johnston, Hamilton, Mark O’Brien (InForm TMX MAKE) and Whelan’s teammate Sam Jenner – to form a cohesive five.

They held the gap as it ticked down to six laps to go but as another lap passed the group behind, which by now had shrunk to around 11, caught and merged. There were of course then more riders who decided to punch off the front with Lionel Mawditt (St George Continental) and Sam Jenner (Team BridgeLane) carving out a gap of around a minute with less than 40km of racing to go. Whelan then went again, bridging over to join the two up front and then he promptly shot off alone with less than three laps to go.

Behind Harper and Durbridge were active in the group, with the BikeExchange-Jayco rider also bolting away and getting a gap as the race crossed the line for three laps to go. Durbridge’s move didn’t hold but Plapp, who had been sitting back quietly in the group for some time and conserving energy, was the next to go and he quickly started making inroads. He steadily built his gap on the chasing group and started reeling Whelan in. Johnston then made the jump from the chasing group before the second last climb, slotting into third place on the road with less than 20 kilometres to go.

Whelan fought to maintain his lead on the final climb, but once Plapp caught the Team BridgeLane rider there was no stopping him. Whelan held second, finishing 45 second back from Plapp while Johnston came over the line nearly two minutes back in third. Then from the chasing group, more than a minute further back, it was Richards who secured fourth even after having spent so long in the early break.

Results :
1 Lucas Plapp (Aus) Ineos Grenadiers 4:52:04
2 James Whelan (Aus) Team Bridgelane 0:00:45
3 Brendan Johnston (Aus) 0:01:50
4 Kane` Richards (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast 0:03:13
5 Drew Morey (Aus) Team Bridgelane
6 Alastair Christie-Johnston (Aus) Team Bridgelane
7 Luke Durbridge (Aus) BikeExchange-Jayco
8 Mark O’Brien (Aus) InForm TMX MAKE
9 Chris Harper (Aus) Jumbo-Visma
10 Benjamin Dyball (Aus) Team UKYO 0:03:19
11 Cameron Ivory (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team 0:04:29
12 Cyrus Monk (Aus) Cycle House 0:06:13
13 Jason Thomason (Aus) Butterfields – Insurance Advisernet P/B Van D’am Racing
14 Liam White (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
15 Tasman Nankervis (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
16 Luke Burns (Aus) Inform TMX MAKE
17 Dylan Lindsey (Aus) NCMG Criterion Racing
18 Christopher Hamilton (Aus) Team DSM
19 Steven Robb (Aus) Cycle House 0:06:15
20 Sam Jenner (Aus) Team BridgeLane 0:10:30
21 Lionel Mawditt (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
DNF Cameron Meyer (Aus) Bike Exchange Jayco
DNF Nick White (Aus) Team BridgeLane
DNF Jean-Pierre van der Merwe (Aus) Team BridgeLane
DNF Tom Chapman (Aus) Team BridgeLane
DNF Rohan Dennis (Aus) Jumbo Visma
DNF Cameron Scott (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
DNF Carter Bettles (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
DNF Oliver Stenning (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
DNF Zack Gilmore (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
DNF Craig Wiggins (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
DNF Angus Lyons (Aus) ARA Pro Racing Sunshine Coast
DNF Aidan Buttigieg (Aus) Nero Continental
DNF Ben Carman (Aus) Nero Continental
DNF Cooper Sayers (Aus) Nero Continental
DNF Dylan McKenna (Aus) Nero Continental
DNF Leigh Phillips (Aus) Nero Continental
DNF Sam Hill (Aus) Nero Continental
DNF Riley Fleming (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
DNF Bailey Walters (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
DNF Connor Reardon (Aus) St George Continental Cycling Team
DNF Curtis Dowdell (Aus) Butterfields – Insurance Advisernet P/B Van D’am Racing
DNF Torben Partridge-Madsen (Aus) CCS Cycling
DNF Marc Williams (Aus) CCS Cycling
DNF Griffin Knight (Aus) Cycle House
DNF Joel Green (Aus) Cycle House
DNF Terance Hore (Aus) Cycle House
DNF Jaxon King (Aus) Cycling Development Foundation
DNF Brendon Green (Aus) Cycling Development Foundation
DNF Conor Leahy (Aus) Inform TMX MAKE
DNF Brenton Jones (Aus) Inform TMX Make
DNF Brandon Conway (Aus) NCMG Criterion Racing
DNF Hugo Thompson (Aus) NCMG Criterion Racing
DNF Nick Pedler (Aus) NCMG Criterion Racing
DNF Scott Reynolds (Aus) NCMG Criterion Racing
DNF Bentley Niquet-Olden (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
DNF Kai Chapman (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
DNF Jordan Schmidt (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
DNF Fintan Conway (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
DNF Callum Pearce (Aus) ONYVA Racing
DNF Robert Parker (Aus) ONYVA Racing
DNF Ben Spenceley (Aus) Team Rauland
DNF Sam Greenwood (Aus) Team Rauland
DNF Timothy Cameron (Aus) Team Rauland
DNF Tom Chester (Aus) Team Rauland
DNF Joshua Wilson (Aus) VA Pro Racing
DNF Patrick Saccani-Williams (Aus) VA Pro Racing
DNF Jacob Langham (Aus) VA Pro Racing
DNF Tony Doherty (Aus) VA Pro Racing
DNF Jordan Villani (Aus) Victorian Institute of Sport
DNF Benjamin Treble (Aus) Apres Velo Racing
DNF Steven Mayers (Aus) CPCC
DNF Adam Blazevic (Aus) Giant Racing
DNF Stuart Smith (Aus) Leongatha CC
DNF Connor Sens (Aus) M G K Vis
DNF Samuel Barnden (Aus) Melbourne University Cycling Club
DNF Nick Spratt (Aus) Penrith Cycling Club
DNF Chris Ling (Aus) Randwick Cycling Club
DNF Nathan Earle (Aus) Team UKYO
DNF Andrew Friebe (Aus) University of Queensland
DNF Timothy Roe (Aus) Villawood
DNF Stuart Darling (Aus) Wagga Wagga Cycling Club
DNF Lucas Hoffman (Aus) Whyalla Cycling Club
DNF Daniel Siwek (Aus) Whyalla Cycling Club
DNF Alex Durrant-Whyte (Aus) Zappi RT
DNF John Davis (Aus)
DNF Liam Edwards (Aus)
DNF Chris Hargreaves (Aus)
DNF Kyle Lierich (Aus)
DNF Daniel Luke (Aus)
DNF Dan Peck (Aus)
DNF Matthew Sherwin (Aus)
DNF Nicholas Squillari (Aus)
DNF Callum Scotson (Aus) Bike Exchange Jayco
DNS Rylee Field (Aus) Team BridgeLane
DNS Brent Rees (Aus) NCMG Criterion Racing
DNS Karl Michelin-Beard (Aus) Oliver’s Real Food Racing
DNS Ryan Cavanagh (Aus) Victoire Hiroshima
DNS Ben Hill (Aus) Canberra Cycling Club
DNS Adam Jackson (Aus) Castlemaine cycling club
DNS Dylan Sunderland (Aus) Global 6 Cycling
DNS Declan Wharton (Aus) University of Queensland
DNS Jack Aitken (Aus)