Fresh off his Unbound win, the Aussie racer and explorer
is excited for his next great adventures with EF Pro Cycling
On the road, on dirt, chasing WorldTour victories or FKTs (Fastest Known Time’s), Lachlan Morton’s creative spirit has long pushed us to find new, meaningful, ways to ride and race bikes. Today, we’re proud to announce that Lachy will continue his cycling journey with our team.
The coming years are going to be some of Lachlan’s most exciting yet. He will continue to blaze trails in EF Pro Cycling pink.
A Long, Fun Journey
“I take the most satisfaction from doing a bunch of different things,” Lachlan says. “That’s what’s cool about riding for EF Pro Cycling. It’s all been one big, long, fun journey. I like riding for the team. I’ve been able to carve out a space for myself in the sport that I really love. The team gives me a lot of support and freedom and puts a lot of trust in me and the things I want to do and definitely enables me to just focus on riding my bike. It gives me that freedom to do the things I care about. It’s a unique and lucky position that I am in, and I want to keep doing what I’m doing.”
Vaughters’ Vision
EF Pro Cycling founder and CEO Jonathan Vaughters wants Lachlan to keep doing just that. Vaughters puts great stock in Lachlan’s contribution to our team. He first spotted Lachlan at a junior race in the United States when Lachlan was a teenager and immediately recognized the Australian’s talent. He brought him on to our development team at the time and was enthralled by his early successes in races like the Tour of the Gila and Tour of Utah. It was hard to watch Lachlan wither under the regimented nature of WorldTour racing. What Vaughters learned during those years was that Lachlan needs freedom to flourish. He truly came into his own when he got the chance to lead our alternative calendar.
A Trailblazer in Cycling
“Lachlan likes to freeform it,” Vaughters says. “He basically invented his own way to be a successful cyclist that didn’t involve being in the WorldTour. He was the first rider to really ever do that, to really express himself and become an icon of the sport without winning the Tour de France. He has carved out a very creative niche for himself. Ultimately, he is the trailblazer in the gravel world, in doing an alternative calendar, ultra adventure, endurance racing. Lachlan has just been such a creative ambassador to the whole movement. Lachlan, being the artist that he is, was able to really take that canvas and paint it.”
Rediscovering the Competitive Fire
Now, at 32, Lachlan has rediscovered the competitive fire that he used to light up road races during his first years as a pro. Just a few weeks ago, he astonished the whole cycling community with his win at Unbound. After riding the Giro, a Vuelta, and his own Alt-Tour, he has still had enough of grand tour racing, but now has his sights set on Leadville and the ever-more competitive gravel events that have breathed new life into the global bike racing scene.
Beyond the Wins
Lachlan is still a winner, but won’t let going for wins define him.
“I know the wins are fleeting,” he says. “You have to acknowledge them for what they were, which was a great day and the culmination of years of riding, which you have and no one can take away from you. At the same time, although I’m proud of all the wins I’ve had, they haven’t been the best days of my life. When you become too attached to the winning, they quickly become your enemies; you’re trying to live up to them. I’ve learned to go beyond that and found more contentment.”
Balancing Racing Ambitions and Meaningful Trips
By balancing his own racing ambitions with more meaningful trips that put any number on a results sheet into perspective, Lachlan has managed to keep his love of riding bikes burning hot. His ride down The Divide last year was a case in point. Yes, he covered the route quickest, but far more important to him was the first-hand experience he got of the American West, the money he raised for Adventure for All, and the film his brother Gus made of the expedition in all of its rugged beauty. The same holds for his Alt Tour and One Ride Away projects. All in all, Lachlan has raised over one million dollars for various causes.
Balancing Racing Ambitions and Meaningful Trips
His playful, open-minded approach to cycling has long inspired our team. He reminds us why we fell in love with riding bikes in the first place and helps us connect with fans who love riding theirs but don’t yet spend their weekends watching WorldTour racing.
Balancing Racing Ambitions and Meaningful Trips
“Lachlan and his alternative calendar makes us unique in the world of professional cycling,” Vaughters says. “It allows our fans to follow something a little bit more relatable. It allows our fans to go out and race against Lachlan on occasion. For us, as an organization, it allows us to be creative. Lachlan does different events every year. He tries to break some sort of different record every year, and tries to do something different every year in a different way. That brings us a lot of joy. It brings us a lot of fans we might not otherwise have.”
Training with a Twist
Right now, Vaughters is excited by Lachlan’s re-found racing ambitions. He has been checking his TrainingPeaks files and has been shocked to see sprints and VO2-max intervals instead of Lachlan just riding his bike all day every day. He has been impressed by the level of detail to which Lachlan has refined his bike and racing kit, but knows he still has to let Lachlan go his own way. Lachlan’s long aimless rides stoke his love for the sport.
“I just enjoy a day where I don’t have anything else on, and I can just leave in the morning with some rough idea of the direction I’m going to go, but nothing set in stone,” Lachlan says. “I could get back at two in the afternoon or I could get back at six and it doesn’t matter. I can stop when I want to stop or add on an extra loop or take a road I haven’t taken before, just having a long day out to myself, on my own time. I really still enjoy that.”
Don’t we all? Those are the rides that make us love riding bikes too. The only difference is that when Lachlan’s enjoying riding bikes he can go and win a race like Unbound.
Dreaming of New Adventures
Not that the wins are the point, or they are but only for an instant. As he trains for his next races, Lachlan is already dreaming of his next adventures.
“I’m excited by the idea of combining some bikepacking and racing, making events part of a bigger journey,” he says. “That’s something that I’ve been thinking about a lot recently. At some stage, combining some riding and hiking and running into some projects could be fun. I wouldn’t mind riding in Australia. That’s something I’ve been thinking about this year.”
Looking Ahead
Whatever Lachlan comes up with next, EF Pro Cycling will be there to support him and help him tell his stories, because those stories will change how we all ride and race bikes–for the better.
Photo credit – Sean Greene / Instagram: sean__greene
