Luke Plapp had to settle for silver in the elite men's road race at the Australian Road Championships after a crazy finish saw Patrick Eddy, from UCI Continental squad Team Brennan, upstage Plapp and his Team Jayco AlUla team mates.
One of the Jayco AlUla riders, defending champion Luke Durbridge, had made a move from the doomed breakaway and rode almost all of the final 40km solo.
Though he faded on the last climb, he still looked good to hold on, especially if Plapp and team mate Ben O'Connor had sat on the others in the small chase group. However, Plapp went to the front and towed Eddy up to Durbridge, who was immediately dropped.
Plapp then kept going on the incline to the finish line, apparently in a bid to drop Eddy and win the race solo. But Eddy - a 23-year-old who rode the last two seasons with Team Picnic PostNL - gritted his teeth and hung on.
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And when the road evened out, he even went to the front, leading out the sprint and taking it by a margin from Plapp and adding the Australian elite road race title to the junior title he won back in 2019.
Oscar Chamberlin, a 20-year-old riding for Decathlon CMA CGM, won the bunch sprint for the bronze, from a small group at eight seconds. The unfortunate Durbridge below once he was dropped, finishing just over three minutes down in 25th place.
And to add insult to injury, the other Jayco AlUla riders at the front in the closing stages - O'Connor, Kelland O'Brien and Rudy Porter - all finished outside the top 10, in 11th, 12th and 13th.
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Asked how frustrating it was to lose, especially as his team was so well represented at the front, a sheepish looking Plapp said: "For sure it's a race we come here to win.
"It's a race that I want to win every single year so it's annoying, it'll hurt. But Pat's a true champion, the way he raced. And he's gone through a lot in the last 12 months, so chapeau to him."
From what I read, Jayco messed up big time.
Break with Durbo & O'Connor, chased down by Plappy, with Eddy on his wheel. Pat Eddy (Picnic 2026 reject ?), riding for a continental Team Brennan, outsprints Plapp and wins the Au Road Nats! I wish I could watch it ?
? IG AusCycling pic.twitter.com/5zfiiAdWp8— cocaloca (@Cocaloca99) January 11, 2026
"It's a race I want to win every single year."
Luke Plapp and Jayco AlUla were left looking for answers, with Luke Durbridge refusing an interview request after being overtaken on the final climb.#RoadNats26 | January 7-11 | SBS & SBS On Demand pic.twitter.com/WqgrAaBqx4
— SBS Sport (@SBSSportau) January 11, 2026
