Lachlan Morton redefines what it means to be a pro racer

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Lachlan Morton is 1,063 km away The “One ride Away” adventure took him from Munich, Germany to the Ukrainian border in less than two days. The ride raised more than $230,000 for Ukrainian refugees, but even though donations keep pouring in, perhaps the most touching and poignant moment of its epic journey came the day after it was completed.

On Monday, shortly after the gigantic ride that involved freezing temperatures, pouring rain and less than four hours of rest, Morton met Mark Padun’s first cycling coach.

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For those unfamiliar with the story, the “One ride Away” expedition was inspired by a meal Morton and his Ukrainian teammate Padun shared on the eve of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. , and by the time Morton had reached his final destination on Poland. -The Ukrainian border, millions of refugees had already fled the war in an attempt to find safety.

Padun’s coach and a number of young riders, all aged between 14 and 17 and still part of the cycling club, only had time to pack their bikes as they rushed to get on safe and fled their homes. The Polish national federation reached out and was able to accommodate them in Spala, just outside Warsaw, and when Morton finished his race and was greeted by a number of young runners, he instantly forgot the fatigue in his legs and joined them for a spin.

It was a touching and improvised moment that provided both hope and inspiration. The ride also led to a wave of new donations, with Morton’s tally raised for GlobalGiving’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund in Ukraine, already well above its original $50,000 goal.

“He just wanted to demonstrate that this war really wasn’t that far away. It’s just a bike ride away,” said Morton team boss Jonathan Vaughters. BikeNews Monday evening from his home in Colorado.

“Isn’t it crazy anyway? I have no idea how it went with the meeting and the ride. We just started getting pictures of our guy there. We don’t know how he found these people. I think Padun’s coach found Lachlan and he brought these kids from the cycling school that Padun used to race for. He got them to meet Lachlan and luckily we had extra jerseys so Lachlan could give them something. It was a very beautiful moment for these children who left with nothing but their bikes.

Lachlan is no stranger to offbeat adventures, though this ride was obviously different. Last year he completed the ALT-Tour – a mission that saw him beat the whole peloton in Paris when he rode the Tour de France route, including transfers. His exploits on Everest and his gravel epics are also well known, but his journey to the Polish-Ukrainian border was something truly special and unique. While most of us struggle to comprehend the war and the untold suffering in Ukraine, Morton sprang into action and provided a rare insight into the hope and beauty that cycling can bring. to local and international communities.

“Most things, about 90% of what he does, he makes it up. He goes into these projects with the intention of doing something good and riding the bike as hard as he can,” Vaughters said.

“He likes to see new places, so he looks like a very fit Anthony Bourdain for cycling, but what sets him apart from other riders is that he comes up with these ideas. He’s a super empathetic person. He texted me during Gran Camiño and said we had to do something to help Mark Padun, I thought that meant being supportive, but Lachlan took it to the next level.

Make a difference and choose another path

The world of top-level racing is tough and unforgiving. There’s little room for sentiment, empathy and patience, and there was a time, around a decade ago, when Morton was on the periphery and it looked like his elite career was coming to an end.

He turned professional with the Vaughters team in 2013 and at one point was tipped as a future grand tour star. His frame and natural ability saw him drop WorldTour riders in premier events, even when riding junior gear, but a few years later he was forced to drop to continental level and to run with Jelly Belly. It looked like his elite career was over before it started, but he returned to the elite level of racing through Dimension Data and then re-signed with Vaughters ahead of the 2019 campaign.

Since then, he has coupled racing at the highest level with ambitious and inspiring solo projects.

At least once a year he will embark on an alternative race or program that would have challenged what a WorldTour rider was supposed to be about five or ten years ago.

It’s refreshing and welcome, and while some might question whether the Aussie has lived up to his promise and potential, a much louder voice would say Morton has achieved far more on this path than he would have s he continued. along the path of a more typical pro.

“At the end of the day he creates his own path and as a team we are lucky to have him,” added Vaughters.

“We are the beneficiaries of his creativity and his ideas. He has a lot more value in him than if he had pursued the UCI race plan he was about to do. He’s much more valuable to the world and the team with what he’s doing now.

“In a way, he redefines what it means to be a professional pilot. Ultimately, the definition of a pro cyclist no longer boils down to whether you do well in 1.1 races. It’s going to mean being a cyclist who makes a living from cycling. People forget that he was a very talented road racer at a very young age and chose to take his career in a different direction. I’ve read reviews that he’s doing this because he can’t race at a high level – but he was – and is immensely talented, and he just made this life choice to do it in a different way. Like doing 42-hour rides.

“He is not made to try to win Paris-Nice. It was amazing what he was doing at a young age, but at the top level of the sport, where it’s so fierce, he’s just not interested in that level of fierce competition. He has no attraction for him. He respects him, but it’s not for him at all. He certainly isn’t wasting talent because he just doesn’t want to do this.

Whatever Morton does, it works. He engaged new fans, raised funds for valiant causes, and in a purely business sense generated value and exposure for his sponsors at every turn.

He’s grown from generic WorldTour frantic racing, and while he still has the talent to race at this level, his inspiring races and creativity deliver much more than you’d expect from a pro. And if the last 24 hours and the smiles on the faces of these young Ukrainian riders is anything to say, Morton’s journey was worth it. Long may it continue.

You can always donate to One Ride Away charity in line.