Ill-starred Luke Plapp has made a triumphant return to the saddle in Greece with a terrific stage win in his first race since undergoing wrist surgery.

The six-time Australian cycling champion reckoned his triumph on the second stage of the International Tour of Hellas in Greece on Thursday meant the world to him after all his struggles with injuries over the past 14 months.

The 24-year-old Melburnian had to undergo surgery to fix a long-standing wrist injury at the start of February, ruining a summer domestic campaign which had begun so promisingly as he won a third national time trial title to go with his three road race crowns.

Plapp, a key rider for his Australian team Jayco AlUla, needed the operation after having to ride in discomfort ever since damaging his wrist last season, and only aggravating the problem in a training crash late in the year.

Such is Plapp's ability, though, that he still managed to finish as the top home rider, finishing sixth, in the Tour Down Under in January.

The surgery was just the latest interruption for the unfortunate Plapp, who had also been forced out of the 2024 Tour Down Under following a spill and then crashed out of the road time trial in treacherous conditions at the Paris Olympics.

Which is why his victory in a duel with Ecuadorian Harold Martin Lopez over the last two kilometres of a hilly 177km second stage from Agrinia to Arachova on Thursday felt so sweet.

"This win means a lot to me. The season started with a setback, which put me out of racing for a while, so to take this win straight away in the first race after my comeback gives me a very good feeling and a lot of motivation for the rest of the Tour of Hellas and the other races ahead," said Plapp.

"We played the game perfectly as a team today. We knew this stage was all about the final climb. Luckily my legs were still good enough to push out a firm sprint at the end."

Plapp was rewarded with a bold attack on the final 21km climb to Arachova after he'd closed down the two leaders, only to be joined by Lopez with two kilometres left.

Regrouping, Plapp won the sprint to earn his first victory in Europe, and move into the lead of the race's points and mountains classifications, while sitting just three seconds off the overall lead, held by Lopez.

Before his early-season injury troubles, Plapp had set out ambitious targets for 2025, which included a top-10 finish in a grand tour, and he looks back on track with further chances of success in the Greek tour that ends on Sunday.