Australian cycling star Luke Plapp has powered clear of his rivals in an enthralling finish to claim his second straight national men’s road race championship.

In his second year as a professional, Plapp looked spent midway through the 185.6-kilometre race on Sunday at Buninyong, near Ballarat.

But the 22-year-old Ineos Grenadiers rider dug deep to recover and was involved in a four-way battle on the final lap of the testing circuit.

Plapp attacked multiple times in hot conditions before finally breaking free with little more than one kilometre left in the final straight.

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Tour de France stage winner Simon Clarke (Israel-Premier Tech) finished second, with world championships bronze medallist Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla) crossing third.

Drew Morey (Kinan) came in a credible fourth.

“I didn’t know how to play it today,” Plapp told SBS.

“I really just tried to bide my time and I don’t know what happened on that last lap.

“I can’t believe I pulled it off.”

Plapp admitted before the race he was underdone following a pre-Christmas training crash, in which he lost a lot of skin.

He said he tried to pick Clarke’s brains during the Bay Crits last week and drew on that experience in the closing stages of the national championships.

“I knew having him there I had to race really smart and try to think what he would do,” Plapp said.

“I was almost lucky that Bling (Matthews) was there because they all looked at him and that gave me the chance.”

Sprint star Caleb Ewan overcame illness that forced his withdrawal from Friday’s criterium to take part in the road race but was not a factor in the finish.

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Earlier on Sunday, Brodie Chapman shocked the favourites and celebrated her move to Trek-Segafredo in fine style by winning her first national women’s road race championship.

The 31-year-old launched a solo attack early on the last of nine laps around the Buninyong course and stayed clear to the finish.

Pre-race fancy Grace Brown (FDJ) won the bunch sprint for silver 31 seconds later to finish runner-up for the third consecutive year.

In doing so, Brown denied Trek-Segafredo a one-two, with Chapman’s new teammate and three-time national champion Amanda Spratt finishing third.

Jayco-AlUla’s strong seven-rider contingent had been favoured to provide the winner of the 104.4-kilometre race, but could only manage fourth, with Ruby Roseman-Gannon just off the podium for a second straight year.

Trek-Segafredo’s three-rider team nailed their tactics, with Lauretta Hanson doing plenty of grunt work to pave the way for Chapman and Spratt to reach the podium.

“It feels as good as I expected,” Chapman told SBS.

“I was so nervous. This race means so much and our team of three just played it perfectly.

“In our first race together we just couldn’t be more stoked.

“I’m so stoked to be back here (in Australia) and be national champion.”

FDJ teammates last year, Chapman and Brown embraced after the finish and were quickly joined by Spratt.

Ella Simpson finished ninth to win the women’s under-23 category.

-AAP