Seemingly cut from a completely different cloth to every other elite cyclist in the modern era, former WorldTour-rider Lachlan Morton has always ridden a unique path, combining wins at major events such as Unbound with original endurance challenges and extreme record-setting rides, often raising funds for charities such as World Bicycle Relief.
But this week, talking to Cycling Weekly after winning the 3-Peaks Cyclo-cross race in Yorkshire, the Australian dropped a bombshell, revealing that he is about to leave EF Education-EasyPost, the team he has been part of since 2019, and that something new is looming on his horizon.
“The 3-Peaks was like my last time pinning on a number with EF,” he told CW. “It was a cool place to do it.”
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He wouldn’t reveal his exact plans (more about that below), but did give us a little teaser. “I’m doing an endurance ride, starting next Monday. I can’t say exactly what it is, but it’ll be a long multi-day ride here in the U.S. And then yeah, that will be it.
“I’ll still be riding, just not in the pink anymore.”
(Image credit: Dan King for Rapha)
Even when he was a WorldTour rider, competing in Grand Tours including the Vuelta a España and Giro d’Italia, Morton rode in a range of rough and tough off-road races around the world through EF Education First’s alternative calendar.
It was during this period that he was exposed to some very British events, including the GBduro (a race he won in 2019) and the 3-Peaks, a challenge Morton didn’t win in either of his first two attempts, in 2019 and 2025, but which kept calling him back.
“It’s just one of those races that gets under your skin, so I’ve been back a few times since,” he explained. “Every time you do it you learn more, and you realise things you could do differently or better, and that rings true even when you win.”
Morton became completely captivated with British bike racing culture, which led to him doing his last race in the distinctive pink livery of EF Education-EasyPost right here in England.
“I love the UK scene,” he says. “People get very passionate about very specific disciplines and events, and the history of those events and disciplines. And it feels like everything grows from a strong local place, and branches out from there, from club runs and the local racing scene. And experience is passed down from older riders to riders just getting into it.
“This is something I find fascinating, and it’s similar to the environment I grew up in – except the British go way harder for the niche element, like hill climbing, and get really passionate. And I think that’s very cool.”
Despite his success and popularity, Morton, who now lives in California, has maintained his easy-going Australian attitude to life, and he evidently enjoys the fact that even people with celebrity status in world cycling don’t get special treatment at local bike races in the UK.
“I like that it’s a scene you have to prove yourself in,” he says. “There’s always a healthy amount of banter, or people hanging sh*t on you. When you turn up, you really have to earn your spot there. It’s like a funny but rewarding thing to go through.
“And it’s also a beautiful place to just go and ride. That’s always my struggle, going over for the 3-Peaks. I just want to go and do all the riding I can around Yorkshire, because it’s so beautiful. I end up riding more than I should before the race.”
Keen-eyed spectators at the 3-Peaks might have noticed Morton had a slightly less hirsute look than we’ve become used to, with a neatly trimmed ‘tache and beard, but he denies that this is part of his new direction.
“My wife drops hints every now and then – she prefers me clean shaven, so every now and then I have a reset… I’m in the reset phase,” he explains. “I’ll be back to my shaggy-looking self in a couple weeks time. That’s how it tends to go. Same with my hair I like grow it until it annoys me and then it just shave off and start again.
So at least we know he’s not going corporate. And Morton promises that, whatever his future holds, he’ll be coming back to defend his 3-Peaks crown. “It’s not a matter of ‘I’ve done it now’, because it’s just such a great event,” he tells me. “I’d love to go back as many times as possible.”
And he has no shortage of plans for future adventures, all over the planet. “I’d really love to ride in Pakistan,” he says. “I’ve been looking at northern Pakistan, where the terrain looks like it lends itself to really crazy adventures.
“Papua New Guinea would be a cool place to go and see on bike. And then in South America I really want to go to Ecuador.”
Right now, though, it seems the Wild West of America is where he is heading for his next adventure, with full details to be revealed in just a few hours. So watch this space.
