Lachlan Morton (EF Education-EasyPost), one of the clear favorites, achieved his first victory in the UNBOUND after a brutal escape with the American Chad Haga (PAS Normal). It was Morton's fourth time competing at UNBOUND and after his third place finish last year, his victory this year has sparked enormous admiration.
Although early in the morning (5:50 AM) the day started out cloudy, the fear that some had of the rain quickly dissipated and allowed for an impressively fast race. In the men's category we saw averages of over 35 kilometers per hour. Lachlan completed the course in 9:11.47, the fastest time to date.
The race began with the Dane Tobias Kongstad attacking after only eight kilometers. Tobias maintained this lead until almost halfway through the race. Riders like previous winner Keegan Swenson, the world gravel champion Matej Mohoric (who abandoned after multiple punctures), road cyclist Greg Van Avermaet and Ian Boswell remained together in the leading group. This group was very large, at some point it increased to 60 runners, which caused frustration for some of the cyclists like.
Shortly before the 250 kilometer mark, Chad Haga (Kongstad's Pas Racing teammate) decided to attack alongside Thijs Zonneveld, who finally ended up getting a puncture. Morton, who saw that in the peloton “no one really wanted to pick up the pace” followed him. “When Chad left, I thought he was the guy I wanted to be with… We didn't need to say many words, we were on the same page,” explains Lachlan.
The two spent the last hours of the race together until reaching the finish line, in a brutal sprint, Lachlan passed in front of Haga, “I was lucky to have done this finish a couple of times and made those mistakes in the last races.” Lachlan declares. Tobias Kongstad, who had led the race in the early hours, was in third place after a sprint in the second group, with three of the great rivals, Piotr Havik, Mattia De Marchi and Simen Nordahl Svendsen.
Lachlan Morton, who has always been a reference in long distance events, expressed that he did not believe he could face victory "The level continues to rise and I am getting older." However, the 32-year-old runner has managed to win the UNBOUND and has moved the public who had been waiting for his victory for a long time.
Men's Top 10
- Lachlan Morton, 9:11:47
- Chad Haga, 9:11:48
- Tobias Kongstad, 9:15:23
- Piotr Havik, 9:15:24
- Mattia De Marchi, 9:15:28
- Simen Nordahl Svendsen, 9:16:28
- Greg Van Avermaet, 9:16:34
- Payson McElveen, 9:16:35
- Sebastian Schönberger, 9:16:35
- Dylan Johnson, 9:16:36
HERE We leave you the complete results.