Luke Plapp secured his third national time trial championship at the Australian National Titles in Perth, triumphing over Jay Vine by a narrow margin of 8.77 seconds. Plapp completed the 38.4-kilometre Bold Park course with a time of 46 minutes and 33 seconds, edging out Vine, who finished at 46:41.78. This victory marks a significant comeback for Plapp, who had suffered a setback during the Paris Olympics, where a crash had led to abdominal surgery. Despite the challenges, Plapp demonstrated determination and resilience, channeling his Olympic disappointment into a successful national performance.
On the women’s side, Brodie Chapman claimed the elite time trial title, clocking 39 minutes and 59.51 seconds on the 28.8km course. Chapman, a new addition to the UAE Team ADQ squad, surpassed her competitors, with Amber Pate finishing second, 32.7 seconds behind, and Anya Louw taking third place, 1:00.99 further back. Grace Brown, who had retired after winning an Olympic gold and a world championship last year, passed the mantle to Chapman, who expressed her ambitions to compete and improve in Europe.
In other events, Alii Anderson and Zac Marriage were crowned national under-23 time trial champions, while para-cycling legend Carol Cooke, at 63, competed in her final national time trial. Cooke, a three-time Paralympic gold medalist, acknowledged the evolution of para-cycling since she began, expressing pride in her contributions to the sport’s development.
