Pro cyclist Lachlan Morton in non-stop 1,000km fundraising ride to Ukraine border

EF Easypost pro cyclist Lachlan Morton is nearing the end of a 1,000km-plus non-stop ride from Munich in Germany to Poland’s border with Ukraine to raise funds for refugees fleeing the country invaded by Russia three weeks ago and has gone well beyond his initial target.

 “I’m not an overly political person,” the 30 year old said in a post on his team’s website. “I’m not an expert in any of this.

“I’m just trying to do the one thing I know how to do and engage the bike-riding community to help.

“My idea is to highlight the fact that war is not a far-off problem. Conflicts are a bike ride away, all over the world.”

He added: "I want to try and raise as much money as we can to help out all of the people who have been displaced.”

 

 

 

 

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The Australian had set a fundraising target of $50,000 – and has absolutely smashed that, with donations nearing $175,000 at the time of writing.

He set off from Munich yesterday to cover the 1,063km to the Korczowa-Krakovets border crossing between Poland and Ukraine, only 63km from Lviv, heading to Poland via Czechia.

Giving background on the charity for which he is raising money, his team said: “GlobalGiving’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund is raising money to help Ukrainians who have had to flee the Russian invasion.

“The fund works with local partners to provide Ukrainian refugees with the aid they need most right now.

“Donations will help to provide Ukrainians with shelter, food, clean water, as well as health and psychological support and access to education and economic assistance.”

Morton joined EF-Easypost in 2019, and if you were to look at his participations for the team since then, you could be forgiven for being underwhelmed at his apparent lack of racing.

In fact, Jonathan Vaughters’ team has given him free rein to pursue his own interests – last year, he rode the entire route of the Tour de France, including transfers, solo and unsupported, and has also proven himself a very successful gravel racer.

> Data reveals huge strain of Lachlan Morton’s solo Alt Tour vs. EF-Education Nippo’s Tour de France efforts

We are hard-pushed to think of another non-star-name rider in the peloton who has generated as much media coverage in the past few years as he has – and as for his latest effort, all we can say is, ‘Chapeau’.

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