Luke Plapp solos to win action-packed Giro d'Italia stage 8 as Ulissi steals pink from Roglič

Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) attacked with 45km to go to win an entertaining stage through the Apennines on stage 8 of the 2025 Giro d'Italia.

The 24-year-old had made his way into a hotly-contested 20-strong breakaway and played his hand perfectly to win his first ever Grand Tour stage. The win completes a comeback after an early-season crash led to surgery on his wrist in February.

The Australian attacked away from a group including Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Diego Ulissi (XDS-Astana), who finished second and third on the day. The veteran Italian began the stage 4:01 behind pink jersey Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and hoped to put enough time into the peloton to wear the Maglia Rosa on home roads in Tuscany on stage 9. It came down to the wire, but the XDS-Astana man stole pink from the Slovenian by just a handful of seconds and took the lead of the race.

It was largely a stalemate in the peloton behind, with Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) launching a long final sprint to take a solitary second away from Roglič's advantage over him

It took around 90 minutes of fighting for the breakaway to finally release themselves from the grasp of the peloton. Heading into the final third of the race, the collaboration of the group broke down and several riders attempted to attack away. However, Plapp was the strongest of the lot and was able to make it stick. The significance of the result was not lost on the rider from Melbourne as he spoke to the TV interviewer after the stage.

"It's pretty crazy. I still can't believe it to be honest. I feel like it's been a long time coming, always targeting the Aussie summer and just never been able to make a result happen in Europe. Last year I got so close at the Giro so many times and for today to happen is so so special," Plapp said.

"We marked it as a stage for a few weeks now and then this morning on the bus we were really really excited so to make it happen is a dream come true."

Plapp had crashed during the time-trial on stage two in Tirana, killing his chances of fighting for a result in the overall. He was delighted to have bounced back to take the win.

"I think from the Olympics last year to wrist surgery in February and now crashing the first TT, it makes everything almost worth it. The lows in cycling are super super low and there's a long time between highs so to have a result like this is amazing."

Plapp's efforts in the last hour of racing are particularly impressive due to the fight to get into the breakaway in the first place. He was one of the lucky 20 to make it up the road in the move of the day.

Once there, Plapp played a tactical masterclass. He judged his effort over the first category Sassotetto climb and again to go solo on the penultimate classified ascent of the day, the Montelago.

"That was unbelievable the fight to get in the breakaway," Plapp recalled. "It just kept going and going. There was one point there where I was falling way out so many times I was almost dropped myself and then gave it one more chance just to try get in there and there was a massive group that made it."

"I knew I couldn't beat any of them in a sprint so I knew I had to go at some stage pretty early. I think the way the racing's been going this year the long moves have been really successful so that was sort of in the back of my mind - the first one to make a move I think always has an advantage."

"I just thought I'd give it a crack and to be honest just wanted a bit of a head start on the descent as well, so to stay away all the way to the finish is definitely not what I expected."

How it happened

After the GC battle came to life on the Tagliacozzo finish on stage 7, the eighth race day of the 2025 Giro d’Italia was to be another day of climbing as the race entered the region of Marche.

It was touted as a day for the breakaway, but it took an awful long time for the move of the day to stick.

The opening 50 kilometres of the stage took place over rolling terrain before the classified climbing began. The likes of Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) were among those who attempted early attacks. However, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe were being picky in who they allowed to escape and a whole host of teams were looking to make it off the front, meaning it took almost 90 minutes for the breakaway of the day to eventually establish.

As the early skirmishes went on, Pedersen took maximum points at the intermediate sprint in Roccafluvione to strengthen his hold on the Maglia Ciclamino. Davide Piganzoli (Polti-Visit Malta) took nine points on the opening classified climb to Croce di Casale.

The breakaway of the day finally stuck after almost 90km ridden. 20 riders moved away from the bunch, including: Romain Bardet (Picnin-PostNL), Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla) Wilco Kelderman, Dylan van Baarle (both Visma-Lease a Bike) Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Diego Ulissi and Lorenzo Fortunato (both XDS-Astana). Maglia Azzurra holder Fortunato was the best placed overall in the group at 2:57, giving him a slim chance at pink.

This strong move quickly built up a lead a shade above two minutes. As they approached the foot of the biggest climb of the day - the first category Sassotetto (13.1km @ 7.3%). Van Baarle was keen to push on as the climbing started, quickly shelling some of the weaker riders in the breakaway.

The gap to the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe led peloton grew above five minutes and it was beginning to look as though it would be a day for the leading group to fight for the stage win. Over the top, Fortunato had to fight off Bardet to win the sprint for 40 precious mountain points, but extended his lead in that classification.

The pair pushed on the descent in an attempt to build an advantage over the remaining 16 chasers in the rest of the breakaway. The duo were caught by Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon-AG2R) and Georg Steinhauser (EF Education First-EasyPost) on the descent and a gap of half a minute over the rest of the breakaway was established.

As the descent turned back into rolling foothills, much of the rest of the breakaway eased their way back to Bardet’s lead group, forming a lead group of ten. The harmony in the front group was broken, however, and the attacks continued to roll on and on, with Arrieta, Plapp and Van Baarle riding particularly aggressively. The gap back to the peloton was sustaining above the five-minute mark, meaning that Fortunato’s prospects for pink were improving all the time.

A group of seven with Vendrame, Steinhause, Plapp, Bardet, Kelderman, Arrieta and Ulissi split off from the rest of the break. On the approach to the third category Montelago climb (5.5km @ 6.9%), their advantage over the others grew above a minute.

Two of the most experienced racers in the Giro, Ulissi and Kelderman attacked at the foot of Montelago. The difficulty of the day began to tell up front as the riders spread all over the climb. Arrieta made his way up to the leaders, with Steinhauser and Plapp close behind on the steepest pitches. Behind in the peloton, Bahrain Victorious lifted the pace through Andrea Pasqualon, hoping to put Antonio Tiberi’s GC rivals under pressure. UAE Team Emirates-XRG joined in towards the top of the climb.

Plapp made his way to the lead and looked strong as he struck out at the top of the climb. With 45km to go, Plapp had a established a significant lead. He looked strong, but still had an hour-or-so of rolling terrain to go between him and a first Grand Tour stage win.

At this point, the gap from the front to the peloton was 5:30, but with Fortunato stuck in an intermediate group it was his team-mate, Ulissi, who looked to have the best chance to go into pink at the end of the day.

Plapp was using his time-trialling gift to his advantage on the shallow descent before an undulating final 20km. His lead over the chasing trio of Kelderman, Arrieta and Ulissi grew to a minute and the 24-year-old from Melbourne looked like the strongest man out there.

Plapp took the Red Bull Kilometre to Castel Santa Maria as Arrieta set off in pursuit on his own. He quickly chipped away 20 seconds, but it still looked like a tough ask for the young Spaniard. He was pegged back by Kelderman and Ulissi with 11km to go. With the gap to Plapp still at a minute, things looked sealed for the Australian. Ulissi was riding particularly hard in the chase group in his ambition to wear pink in his home region of Tuscany in the following stage.

The pace of the peloton rose in the finale, meaning that the pink jersey was in the balance. Pidcock attacked on the final climb of the stage, the fourth category Gagliole (800m @ 8.1%), and UAE continued to drive on as the group shrunk to around 25 riders. Ulissi’s dream of wearing pink at home…

Plapp, though, stayed strong and scored a career-best result after a difficult period of the season. A man who has promised so much over the years, Plapp silenced any doubts through the Apennines.

Results

Giro d'Italia 2025, stage 8: Giulianova > Castelraimondo

1. Luke Plapp (Aus) Jayco-AlUla, in 4:44:20
2. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, +38s
3. Diego Ulissi (Ita) XDS-Astana, +38s
4. Igor Arrieta (Spa) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +1:22
5. Nicolas Prohomme (Fra) Decathlon-AG2R, +1:35
6. Andrea Vendrame (Ita) Decathlon-AG2R, +1:48
7. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) XDS-Astana, +1:48
8. Georg Steinhauser (Ger) EF Education-EasyPost, +2:59
9. Romain Bardet (Fra) Picnic PostNL, +3:02
10. Alessio Martinelli (Ita) VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizanè, +4:37

Giro d'Italia 2025 general classification after stage 8

1. Diego Ulissi (Ita) XDS-Astana, in 29:21:23
2. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita) XDS-Astana, +12s
3. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +17s
4. Juan Ayuso (Spa) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +20s
5. Isaac Del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +26s
6. Antonio Tiberi (Ita) Bahrain Victorious, +44s
7. Max Poole (GBr) Picnic PostNL, +47s
8. Michael Storer (Aus) Tudor Pro Cycling, +50s
9. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +51s
10. Simon Yates (GBr) Visma-Lease a Bike, +56s