Tuesday 13 July 2021
He was wearing sandals
Man with tent wins Tour de France
Lachlan Morton has arrived in Paris. After 18 days, the Australian finishes his own Tour de France. He drives further than anyone else and faster. On his way through France he wears sandals, sleeps in a tent and at one point fears for his mind.
There was still enough strength to open the champagne. Tired and happy, Lachlan Morton stood barefoot at dawn on the Champs-Élysées in Paris and, after his outstanding performance, rewarded himself with a large sip of the fine French drink. The professional cyclist was at the destination of an incredible journey at 5.30 a.m. He mastered the Tour de France on his own. Five days faster than the peloton and with over 2000 additional kilometers in the legs.
“This is an unimaginable achievement. So unimaginably uncomfortable. But Lachy fought back in a way that few would have done. Sleep well, my friend. Chapeau,” tweeted his team principal Jonathan Vaughters. His racing team EF Pro Cycling wrote: “Chapeau, Lachlan. Thank you for taking us on this adventure.” Team boss Vaughters had already joked at the beginning of Morton’s crazy tour: “The therapy obviously didn’t help.”
Morton was not nominated for the tour by his team. It wasn’t a surprise. The cycling hipster from Australia came anyway and drove the tour. The alternative tour, as he called it. Always looking for the true spirit of racing. Morton not only covered the 21 stages, he also managed the transfers between the start and finish locations on the bike.
In the end there were 5510 kilometers on the clock, the professionals who started shortly before him on June 26th in Brest reached 3,414.4 kilometers. Morton climbed 65,500 meters, spent 220 hours in the saddle. On his last stage he covered an incredible 576 kilometers in a row. Towards the goal through the night, ignoring the tiredness. It was the last bow to the pioneers of the Grande Boucle at the beginning of the 20th century.
The whole world could watch it on social media. Watching how he fought against the forces of nature. Watching how he was at the end of his strength and friends from all over the world accompanied him for a while and rebuilt him. Watching him crawl into his tent, which is barely bigger than a dog house.
“Now the point has come where I’m going crazy”
Morton will remain memories for life. The bike romantic was out and about as a “bike packer”. He slept in the open air, ate breakfast in baguetteria and dined in pubs, got to know the country and its people in a unique way. And there were moments like this: on a clear night, Morton reeled off kilometers and looked up at the sky. The sight was fascinating and confusing at the same time. “I thought there couldn’t possibly be so many stars. In my head the sky turned into an artificial ceiling,” said Morton. “
The 29-year-old covered a large part of the distance in sandals. And even those were cut so that they left as few pressure marks as possible. Morton combined his one-time trip with a good cause and collected over 400,000 euros in donations for the by Tuesday lunchtime “World Bicycle Relief”who donates bicycles to people in developing countries.
Morton is anything but an ordinary professional cyclist. He mostly wears a mustache, tattoos adorn his body, he likes to enjoy life. With his bikepacking adventure, he didn’t just want to collect donations, but also to trace the spirit of the true tour. The one from 1903, when the participants had to cover up to 470 kilometers a day, drove through the nights and slept in the fields.
“That era was exciting. Back then, the Tour Director wanted only one rider to finish,” said Morton before the start. “I know it’s a big undertaking. And I’m not even sure it’s even possible.” He proved exactly that on this mild morning in Paris.
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