šŗšø Lachlan Morton wins Unbound šŗšø
For years now, Lachlan Morton has been doing his thing off-road, racing gravel events, ultra-endurance events, setting his own personal challenges. This past weekend, Morton achieved perhaps his biggest result since leaving road racing behind, winning the 320 km Unbound Gravel event in Kansas, USA.
An attack from Morton at around the halfway mark saw him get clear of the bunch with just two riders for company, but soon it was just the Aussie and one of those riders ā Chad Haga, another former road pro ā leading the race. The two would make it all the way back to Emporia together, where Morton won the sprint.
The win comes after third- and fourth-place finishes in the past for Morton, and as he wrote on Instagram afterwards, it also comes after some significant self-doubt about his ability to compete with the best in the biggest gravel races.
āI changed my approach in the month leading up to this and focused on enjoying the riding I was doing,ā Morton wrote. āNo getting caught up in what anyone else was doing and drawing a firm line before the fun stopped. My hope was that regardless of the result I could be content knowing Iād done it the way I wanted without compromising my simple enjoyment of heading out on the bike for a different mission everyday.
āI assumed that approach would impede, in some way, my ability to compete at the high level required. Itās so validating to know that wasnāt true.ā
š¤ Robert Stannard given backdated ban š¤
In less-uplifting news, former Aussie road pro Robert Stannard has been handed a backdated four-year suspension and a hefty fine following an anti-doping rule violation some six years ago.
In August last year the UCI announced that Stannard had āunexplained abnormalities in his Biological Passport in 2018 and 2019ā. The UCIās Anti-Doping Tribunal recently found that those abnormalities were caused by the āuse of a prohibited substance or a prohibited methodā.
The UCI didnāt elaborate on those details ā and said it wouldnāt offer further comment ā and Stannard proclaimed his innocence when the news of his provisional suspension came out last year (on the eve of the Road Worlds where he was due to represent Australia). The UCI has now handed Stannard a four-year suspension … backdated to August 2018, meaning Stannard is free to compete again should he wish to (he hasnāt raced since the initial finding was made public last year and has no contract for this year). Stannard was also fined 70% of his salary for the 2018 and 2019 seasons under the finding.
Of note from the UCI press release: āThe decision is not final as it can be appealed before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) by the rider, his National Federation and National Anti-Doping Agency, the UCI and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) within one month. The decision will be published on the UCI website once final.ā
Should the UCIās penalties be enforced, Stannard will presumably be stripped of his overall title at the 2022 Tour de Wallonie.
š Podium round-up š
A quick look now at some of the Aussie and Kiwi riders snagging great results on the road in the past week.
After reaching the podium on four stages of the Giro dāItalia without a win, Aussie sprinter Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) has continued that trend at the Brussels Cycling Classic one-day race. The day was won by Uno-X Mobilityās Jonas Abrahamsen with a late solo move, with Groves finishing just behind Biniam Girmay (IntermarchĆØ-Wanty) in the bunch sprint behind, the Queenslander taking third on the day. Groves is still looking for his first win of 2024.
Elsewhere in Belgium, at the Dwars door de Westhoek, Aussie Escape member Lauretta Hanson (Lidl-Trek) raced to her best result in Europe in nearly six years. Hanson got up the road with Kathrin Schweinberger (Ceratizit-WNT) and the pair rode to the finish nearly two minutes ahead of the group behind. Schweinberger took it in a sprint, but for Hanson ā a much-loved and loyal domestique ā it was her best individual finish in Europe since winning the ITT at the 2018 Tour de Feminin in the Czech Republic.
Over in Spain, at the womenās Vuelta Andalucia, Kiwi champ Ella Wyllie was part of a dominant performance from Aussie team Liv AlUla Jayco. The team went 1-2-3 on the opening stage, with Wyllie taking third, and then the young Kiwi went on to win stage 3 in what was her first European victory (and another Liv AlUla Jayco 1-2-3).
Wyllie finished the race in third overall, as part of a GC podium sweep with teammates Mavi Garcia and Silke Smulders. Wyllieās success comes after a bunch of promising rides so far this year which speak of an exciting future for the 21-year-old climber.
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āļø Snippets āļø
- DUD favourite Cyrus Monk (Q36.5) is facing a stint on the sidelines after some recent chest pains turned out to be inflammation of his heart muscle. The Aussie posted an Instagram Reel to reveal the news, saying that scans showed no long-term damage to his heart or lungs, but that heād need some time off intense exercise to recover fully.
- The NSW/ACT XC State Series will be revived this year after an absence of nearly 15 years. A collaboration between MTB clubs and coaches, the series will begin in June and feature four rounds of racing in the Southern Highlands, Tamworth, Nowra, and Canberra, concluding in November.
- The Aussie track cycling community is this week mourning the passing of Ken āReggieā Tucker, āthe legendary track cycling coach from Rockhampton who propelled a young Anna Meares to greatness as her first coach.ā Meares paid tribute to Tucker in a post on social media, saying āhe was a stalwart and an icon to the region and community he was a part ofā and that āwhatever your memory or experience, itās fair to say, Reggie will never be forgotten.ā
- The final course has been revealed for the 2024 Race to the Rock off-road ultra-endurance race to Uluru in Central Australia. This yearās edition kicks off on Saturday July 6 and will take riders roughly 2,700 km from Derby, north east of Broome, WA, through the Kimberley, Kununurra, and down to Alice Springs before ending at Uluru. A shorter, āentreeā version of the route is available too: 710 km from Derby to Kununurra.
- In case you haven’t heard it already, Escape’s Ronan Mc Laughlin recently spoke with Aussie rider Sadie Fitton about her attempt at the 24-hour elevation world record, which she tackled having recently received a Stage IV breast cancer diagnosis. Well worth a listen.
š Big Things Down Under š
For most of the DUDās 37 editions, the feature image that started the newsletter came from the Escape community. An ode to Australiaās Big Things, these photos gave the DUD something of a visual identity and celebrated the many cult attractions (and other interesting pieces of art) around our great land.
We didnāt have an image every week, and in more recent editions we had more-newsworthy images lead the newsletter, but Iāll remember Big Things Down Under as one of my favourite parts of the DUD. Thanks to Escapeās very own Dave Rome for the initial idea, and to every single person who sent in an image for consideration.
That includes Stuart Crooks who sent in this weekās photo to close out the DUD in style. While perhaps not technically a Big Thing, the āContainbowā in Fremantle, Western Australia is exactly the sort of thing Iāve loved featuring in the DUD, and a perfect way to see out the newsletter.
Made from nine recycled shipping containers, the Containbow stands 9 metres high, itās 19 m long, it weighs a hefty 66 tonnes, and was created by Perth artist Marcus Canning. Hereās a video of it being installed back in 2016.Ā
Thanks again, Stuart, for heading out to take those photos. And thanks again to everyone that contributed to this section of the newsletter over the last nine months.
ā¤ļø And finally … ā¤ļø
Last week we featured the trailer for a film about Jack Thompsonās record-breaking ultra-endurance ride along the length of the Munda Biddi trail in Western Australia. The full film is out now on YouTube and itās well worth your time. Impressive and inspiring stuff.
And finally, in this final edition of the DUD, a big thank you to every one of you that has joined me at some point on this journey.
The DUD began in September 2023 as a way of providing more local content for our Australian (and New Zealand) readers all in one convenient place, and Iād like to think we succeeded in that. Weāve shared stories of great successes from our favourite riders, followed various storylines as theyāve played out over the span of months, and even broke the odd news story along the way. All in all itās been a lot of fun, and Iām very grateful that so many of you have joined me along the way.
Sadly, itās time to refocus our energy elsewhere now ā to better serve more of our wonderful members ā but you can be sure weāll continue to provide Aussie- and Kiwi-themed content on Escape as it comes up. And if you havenāt already seen the range of other great newsletters we have on offer, be sure to check them out and sign up if you like what you see. Weāve got:
- Wheel Talk: Abby Mickeyās weekly newsletter all about professional womenās road racing.
- Threaded: Dave Romeās glorious nerdy fortnightly deep-dive into the world of bike tech and tools.
- Performance Process: Ronan Mc Laughlinās ode to all things cycling performance, and
- Spin Cycle: Jonny Longās twice-weekly newsletter that puts a different spin on the news from the world of cycling.
And with that, thanks so much for being part of the Down Under Digest. Itās been a privilege.
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