News Round-up: Lachlan Morton suffers through the cold on the Tour Divide

We bring you an update from Morton's FKT attempt, as well as the results from the Vuelta a España, Simac Ladies Tour and Tour of Britain

18:52, Tuesday 5th September 2023

George Poole

Junior Writer

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Lachlan Morton is no stranger to ultra riding

Lachlan Morton: 'I've never been so cold in my life

Put your makeup on, fix your hair up pretty
And meet me tonight in Atlantic City

Those are just two of the lines from Bruce Springsteen's 1982 song, Atlantic City, hailing from his solo album Nebraska. Well, it was going to take Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost) more than makeup to get himself fixed up to pass through Atlantic City.

Less concerned with the bright lights of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and intently focused on continuing his Tour Divide attempt through Atlantic City, Wyoming, Morton had one question on his mind to start the week: when would he ever feel warm again?

On day seven of his attempt to set a new fastest known time on the Great Divide trail, Morton set out from Wamsutter, Wyoming and it quickly became clear that the conditions were not favourable to cycling. Cars passed him by and asked if he was ok, such was the intensity of wind and rain that battered down on the lonely rider.

"I should've just quit," Morton admitted to the EF crew who are filming his travails, and providing updates on their website.

But anyone who has followed Morton's career, and particularly his off-road exploits in recent years, will know that the word 'quit' does not particularly resonate with the Australian. No, instead he plundered on in search of extending the lead he holds over the late Mike Hall's FKT.

The wind and rain does not only make such riding unpleasant, it makes it near impossible as the mountain bike trails become encased in thick pools of mud, which soon engulf Morton's Cannondale Cannondale Scalpel HT Hi-MOD Ultimate.

After a day spent in the Great Divide Basin, the Aussie had no choice but to seek the solace of what appeared to be a roadside toilet. Progress had been slow out on the trails, with the mud bringing his bike to a stop for minutes at a time, whilst he cleared his frame of the thick gloop. This was another challenge entirely than the lightning he had faced over the weekend.

"I had some very terrifying moments last night with a lightning storm on an exposed ridge, so this is feeling quite fine and dandy actually," Morton revealed on his Instagram story. "I had a good sleep in Pinedale, then stocked up for this long stretch, through the Grand Basin."

"I've never been so cold in my life."

Lachlan Morton's time used to be spent in the professional peloton, but he has found far more fulfilment away from the WorldTour

Morton's video diaries shed some light on his situation. He is stood shaking like a leaf, wearing at least two Rapha rain jackets, hovering underneath the supposed warmth of a hand dryer. On the side of a water basin lay his sepia tan gloves, which although only picked up seven hours earlier, already look like they have seen years of action.

On the floor, meanwhile, sit a rather glum looking pair of Rapha socks, which began their life as white but have long since turned the colour of auburn under the stress of what now looked like a ride through the Burning Man Festival.

Would his Hoka shoes ever dry? Only time will tell.

At the time of writing, Morton is more than 200km ahead of the FKT and has just passed into his home state of Colorado. There will be no time to stop at his home in Boulder, however, with 1,748km remaining. Behind him lay 2,386km, as the EF Education-EasyPost explorer goes in search of drier roads and should he get lucky, even some sunshine.

Filippo Ganna wins stage 10 of the Vuelta a España as Sepp Kuss impresses

By Dan Benson

Sepp Kuss produced the best time trial of his career to maintain a handsome lead in the red jersey

Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) produced an untouchable performance on stage 10 of the Vuelta a España to take victory in the individual time trial on Tuesday.

"I'm really happy. After the Giro, it was my dream and goal to try to win. Today I can say that I did that," a relaxed Ganna said at the finish.

"After the Worlds, I don't know if the team wanted me or not to come to the Vuelta. But I pushed a lot to come here with Geraint because we worked [together] a lot before the Giro and also after, so to be here now is amazing. To fight for first position is out, but we will try also in the future.

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) at times looked uneasy in his TT position but the Belgian certainly rallied in the second half of the test, pushing his slim advantage over Roglič to 16 seconds at the finish.

Race leader Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) finished 1:29 down on Ganna but retained the red jersey, holding a 26-second advantage over Marc Solar (UAE Team Emirates), 1:09 over Evenepoel and 1:36 over teammate Primož Roglič in the overall standings.

Charlotte Kool continues remarkable season to win Simac Ladies Tour prologue

By Matilda Price

Dutch sprinter Charlotte Kool (dsm-firmenich) pulled off a blistering performance in Ede to win the prologue of the Simac Ladies Tour, going more than three seconds faster than her closest competitor on the 2.4km course.

Riejanne Markus (Jumbo-Visma) took second after sitting in the hot seat for much of the day, whilst world road race champion Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx) powered to third, just a fraction behind Markus, with SD Worx riders taking positions third to fifth.

It wasn’t a total surprise to see Kool so powerful, after she pulled off a similar result in the prologue of the Baloise Ladies Tour in July.

Kool now leads the race, and could hold onto that lead across the coming sprinter-friendly stages.

Olav Kooij makes it three from three at the Tour of Britain

Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) claimed his hat trick at the Tour of Britain on Tuesday, winning stage 3 ahead of Bora-Hansgrohe's Danny van Poppel.

The start of the stage had seen three brave riders attack from KM0 and quickly develop a one-minute gap over the peloton behind, with Nícolas Sessler (Global 6 Cycling), James Fouché (Bolton Equities Black Spoke) and the ever-reliable breakaway specialist, Harry Tanfield (TDT-Unibet), on the move.

Not wanting anything to get in the way of a third successive sprint at the Tour of Britain, Jumbo-Visma slowly wound the breakaway back in and having extended his lead in the KoM classification, Fouché was the first to be dropped from the front group with 44km to ride.

There were no shortage of attacks in the finale but the fun was ended with 6.2km to go, as a sprint finish now appeared inevitable and all eyes turned to whether or not anybody could beat Kooij - the winner of the first two stages.

Olav Kooij beat out a very sprightly Danny van Poppel

Kooij pounced following his teammate Wout van Aert's lengthy lead-out, and so did Van Poppel, but the 30-year-old could not match the finishing speed of the young whippet who remains unbeaten at this race.

Sam Bennett on verge of signing two-year contract with AG2R Citroën

By Dan Benson

Sam Bennett is set to be announced as an AG2R Citroën rider in the coming days. First reported by Ciro Scognamiglio from La Gazzetta dello Sport in mid-August as a likely deal, GCN can reveal that the contract between the rider and his new team will stretch out over a two-year period.

Bennett is currently racing the Tour of Britain with Bora-Hansgrohe but a departure from the German outfit looked highly likely in late June after the rider was snubbed from their Tour de France squad. Bennett was also not selected for the Vuelta a España - a move that left him without a Grand Tour for the entire 2023 season.

Bennett's arrival will provide the French team with a world class sprinter and former Tour de France green jersey winner. Ryan Mullen, who joined Bennett at Bora two years ago as the Irish rider's lead-out man, is set to extend his contract with the German team for another two years.

What to watch: Great Outback Beer Run

From time to time in the News Round-up, we will offer some suggested evening viewings for you, your family and friends to enjoy. Be it one of the new Thereabouts films on YouTube, a particularly exciting stage or one of our GCN+ original films, there is so much out there to enjoy - so let us be your guide.

There is no better place to start this week than with our brand-new GCN+ original, Great Outback Beer Run, which was released on Tuesday morning. From the training roads of Girona, to the harsh climbs of Asia and the brutal cobbles of Northern Europe, former pro Mitch Docker has seen it all - so this time, we thought we'd send him exploring in his own backyard.

After a decade of racing in the European peloton, Mitch moved back to his homeland of Australia and continues to love getting out on his bike. In our latest film, he teams up with his old mate Alby Lacuone to explore Down Under's wild interior aboard gravel bikes.

The pair retrace the steps of Victorian explorers in search of iconic bush pubs and on a mission to reach the very heart of Australia, where the great states of New South Wales, Queensland, and South Australia meet.

Along the way, Mitch and Alby meet locals whose lives centre around these classic boozers, but they mustn't chit-chat for too long as they have nearly 500km of dirt paths and gnarly trails to ride in just four days.

Sit back, crack open a cold beverage and join Mitch and Alby on their latest off-road adventure.

From an octopus’ garden in the shade, it is time to bid adieu. Until the next time.