Australian cyclist Lachlan Morton has participated in some of the world’s biggest cycling races, including the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana. In 2020, he briefly held the world record for “Everesting”—a feat achieved by cycling up and down a hill continuously until you’ve climbed the equivalent height of Mount Everest. It took former Tour de France winner Alberto Contador to beat his time. To date, he has won three yellow jerseys: the Tour de l’Abitibi, the Tour of Utah, and the Tour of the Gila.
Morton hails from Port Macquarie, a city on the New South Wales coast. He came to prominence on the national stage in 2009 when, aged 17, he finished 5th in the National Time Trial Championships. The following year, whilst still an amateur, he won the Tour de l’Abitibi in Canada. He was signed by the American Chipotle-Garmin Development Team, training with them for a year before graduating to the Garmin-Sharp team. In 2012, he won the young rider category of the Tour de la Guadeloupe, taking home the coveted white jersey. The following year, he turned professional and won two more young rider categories, in the USA Pro Cycling Challenge and the Tour of Utah.
2016 proved to be Morton’s most successful year to date, with two tour wins and a stage win on the tough Tour de Hokkaido in Japan. The following year, he won the young rider jersey in the Tour of California and, later that year, competed in the Vuelta a Espana, one of the biggest races in the world. He completed it, finishing a respectable 90th. With his first Giro d’Italia completed in 2020, many more great results await this fast-maturing cyclist.