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Maeve Plouffe

Maeve Plouffe (born 8 July 1999) is an Australian professional racing cyclist for Hess Cycling Team.[1][2][3][4] She was selected on the Australian women's track endurance squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics[5] and the 2024 Summer Olympics.[6] She is the current Australian record holder for both the Team Pursuit and the 3000m Individual Pursuit, in which she was the third woman in history to break the 3:20 barrier.[7] At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Plouffe won the gold medal in the women's team pursuit event alongside Sophie Edwards, Chloe Moran and Georgia Baker, setting a games record time of 4:14.06. In the same year, she also won a silver medal in the Individual pursuit.[7]

Early cycling career

Plouffe was introduced to track cycling by a South Australian Sports Institute talent identification program from a background of swimming and surf life saving.[8] She exhibited an early aptitude for the road time trial, winning the event as an U17 in her first year competing at the Australian Junior Road National Championships[9] and again as an U19 in the Oceania Road Cycling Championships.[10] Maeve made her international debut in the 2017 UCI Junior Track Cycling World Championships.[11]

Elite career

Plouffe made her international elite debut at nineteen years of age in the opening round of the 2018–19 UCI Track Cycling World Cup women's points race in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France.[12] She represented Australia again at the UCI Track Cycling World Cup in Hong Kong,[13] before returning to Australia to win three elite Australian Championship titles in the individual pursuit, team pursuit and madison.[11] In the 2020 season Maeve Plouffe became Oceania champion in the scratch race[14] and won two silver and two bronze medals.[15] Only three months prior to the championships, she underwent an operation on her wrist as a result of a fall in a street race in Belgium.[16][15] In the 2019–20 UCI Track Cycling World Cup season, Maeve's team won a silver medal and set a new Australian record in the women's team pursuit in Cambridge, New Zealand,[17] before winning a gold medal in the women's team pursuit in Brisbane, Australia.[18] Her performances gained her selection for the UCI Track World Championships in Berlin, where she rode in the women's team pursuit event and the women's individual pursuit event.[19][20] The team consisting of Ashlee Ankudinoff, Georgia Baker, Annette Edmondson, Alexandra Manly, Maeve Plouffe finished fifth.[21]

Plouffe was the youngest member of the women’s cycling team at her Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021 where she was a member of the team pursuit squad that finished fifth.[7] In 2022, she won gold in the Individual Pursuit at the UCI Track Nations Cup in Milton.[22] At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Plouffe won the gold medal in the Team Pursuit and silver in the Individual Pursuit, setting Commonwealth Games records in the process. After a successful season on both the track and road, including being named Australian Track Cyclist of the Year,[23] she went on to race in the UCI Women's World Tour with Team DSM in 2023 and 2024.[2] In 2024 Plouffe raced at her second Olympic Games in Paris.[6]

Personal life

In 2020, Plouffe was studying a double degree in law and science, with double majors in marine biology and ecology at the University of Adelaide.[24]

References

  1. ^ Smith, Sophie (1 February 2025). "Maeve Plouffe lands new team after off-season 'scramble'". cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Maeve Plouffe". ProCyclingStats. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  3. ^ "Baker & Australia boast all the right ingredients". Australian Cycling. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  4. ^ "Hannah interviews rising Aussie road & track star, Maeve Plouffe". Pedal North. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  5. ^ "Maeve Plouffe". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Maeve Plouffe" – via Olympics.com.
  7. ^ a b c "Maeve Plouffe Results | Commonwealth Games Australia". commonwealthgames.com.au. 18 June 2022. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  8. ^ "Maeve Plouffe". Australian Cycling Team.
  9. ^ "Latest News from the Junior Road Nationals". Cycling Victoria.
  10. ^ "2017 Oceania time trial titles | Oceania Cycling Confederation".
  11. ^ a b "Maeve Plouffe | Rider Profile". Australian Cycling Team. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  12. ^ "Women's Points Race". Tissot Timing. 19 October 2018.
  13. ^ "Women's Team Pursuit Start List". Tissot Timing. 24 January 2019.
  14. ^ "Results – Women Elite 10km Scratch Race Final" (PDF). Oceania Cycling Confederation.
  15. ^ a b "Maeve Plouffe wins at Oceania Track Cycling Championships to Keep on Track for Paris 2024 Olympics". The Messenger. 31 October 2019.
  16. ^ "Maeve Plouffe Interview 2020". Pedal North.
  17. ^ "Women's Team Pursuit: Results". Tissot Timing. 6 December 2019.
  18. ^ "Women's Team Pursuit Final Classification". Tissot Timing. 13 December 2019.
  19. ^ "Women's Team Pursuit: Start List". UCI. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  20. ^ "Women's Individual Pursuit, Final Classification". Union Cycliste Internationale. Retrieved 26 February 2020.
  21. ^ "Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  22. ^ "Women's Individual Pursuit Final Classification".
  23. ^ Bromhead, Nat (14 December 2021). "Logan Martin, Maive Plouffe, Ben O'Connor & Amanda Reid Among 2021 Cyclist Of The Year Winners". Bicycling Australia. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
  24. ^ "Lifeline thrown as Olympics now a go for South Australian debutant Maeve Plouffe in 2021". The Messenger. Retrieved 1 April 2020.