1-2 at the Australian Road Race Championships
Luke Durbridge led home a memorable Team Jayco AlUla one-two in the Australian Road Race Championships ahead of teammate Luke Plapp after an epic breakaway ride.
The win is the second national road race title of his career, but this one will taste even sweeter for ‘Durbo’ who hails from Perth, making it a fairytale victory for the man from Western Australia.
Durbridge was the first rider to attack on the opening lap of the race as he made an early move with less that 10km of racing completed. The 33-year-old was initially joined by one other rider, but with 80km remaining he found himself alone at the head of the race.
Meanwhile, behind in the chasing bunch, Team Jayco AlUla were marshalling the counter attacks with Michael Hepburn, Luke Plapp, Kell O’Brien and Chris Harper all working hard to shut down moves.
As the laps ticked by the time gap to Durbridge continued to fall, but then as the final lap approached, Plapp made his mark. The defending champion accelerated clear of the pursuers and quickly across to his teammate as the bell rang out for the final lap.
After a mammoth day in the breakaway, Durbridge was unable to provide much assistance to Plapp, but the pair managed to hold their advantage despite a series of attempts to close them down from behind.
As the finish line came into view, the question was ‘who would take the title’? Would Plapp make it an historic fourth nationals win in a row, or did the day belong to the local boy?
In the end it was Durbridge who crossed the line first to lead home a special one-two for Team Jayco AlUla with the duo crowning a stunning week of racing in Western Australia that saw GreenEDGE Cycling walk away with four victories and a further three podium finishes.
Luke Durbridge – First Place 🥇:
“That was amazing, I just want to say thanks to the whole team. What they did behind me, not just Plappy, everyone behind was just blocking all day which allowed me to just do my ride.
I laid it out there pretty early, I was maybe a bit too ambitious, but that’s the way I race. When Plappy came past he said ‘hold the wheel’ and he gave it to me, he’s a gentleman and I really appreciate that, I will never forget that.
Thanks to my teammates, the GreenEDGE Cycling boys, this is my family, it’s always been my team, and I’m just really, really proud to wear this jersey.”
Mat Hayman – Sports Director:
“What an amazing day, it really is a fairytale ending for Luke. We’re in his home city, he’s been showing us around, he loves this place, his family is here.
It was a long shot for him to be able to win the road race but he went after it, he died a thousand deaths and he had a guardian angel in Luke Plapp coming up and helping him across the finish line, it’s a great story.”
2025 Australian Road Race Championships – Results:
- Luke Durbridge (Team Jayco AlUla) 3:52:19
- Luke Plapp (Team Jayco AlUla) +0:05
