Dimension Data’s Lachlan Morton reclaimed the young rider’s jersey on the final day of the Tour of California in Pasadena, California, yesterday.
A mechanical caused the Australian to lose the jersey the previous day but the Australian finished fourth on stage seven, an achievement that not only saw him recover the jersey but also move up two points on the general classification.
Lachlan Morton placed fourth in the final stage of the Tour of California to claim back the young rider jersey. Photo: Brian Hodes
“Obviously it was disappointing yesterday having the mechanical,” said Morton.
“I felt I had to pay back the team for all the work they did for me this week so I just let it hang out and it went to the finish, so that was pretty sweet.”
Morton made his move 45km from the start as he and Evan Huffman (Rally Cycling), Rob Britton (Rally Cycling), and Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) and David Lopez (Team Sky) formed a breakaway group.
The five opened a gap of almost two minutes before they hit the final category two climb of the day.
The chasing group battled to lessen the gap but the group were able to maintain their lead until the line, where Huffman snatched the win from Lopez with Edet and Morton close behind.
“Today was just a great bike race to be part of. To come away with the jersey in the end is great, and it ends the tour off on a positive note for our team,” he said.
