There's obviously something about Mt. Nebo that Lachlan Morton really likes. The 24-year-old Australian, who rides for American Continental team Jelly Belly-Maxxis, has won the Mt. Nebo stage at the Tour of Utah the past two times it's been included in the race.
He took his first win on the Richfield to Payson route in 2013 while riding for Garmin-Sharp. He also seized the overall race lead that day and held it until the Queen stage that ends with the climbs of Guardsman Pass and Little Cottonwood Canyon. On Wednesday, Morton repeated his performance, beating breakaway companion Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Drapac) and Adrien Costa (Axeon Hagens Berman) at the finish line in Payson.
"If you're a domestic rider this is as big as it gets, so everyone's just motivated," Morton said in the post-stage press conference. "I won this stage last time so I know it really well. Then this morning we had a good plan for today, and it all worked out pretty much how we wanted it to, which rarely happens."
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Morton's team kept him sheltered for the first 131km of the 192km stage, then put the talented climber into position at the bottom of the climb to do what he does best. Morton delivered.
He jumped away from the bunch on the early slopes, then watched Talansky and Costa bridge to him. The trio powered away as Giro d'Italia stage winner Darwin Atapuma (BMC Racing) and Rob Britton (Rally Cycling) struggled to get on terms. The chasers never made contact, and the lead trio headed down the descent toward the finish with a gap of more than a minute.
Morton attacked his breakaway companions inside the final 2km, opening up enough of a gap to win by three seconds. He now leads Costa in the overall by seven seconds and Talansky by nine. Atapuma is fourth, 1:32 back.
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