While illness has swept through Dimension Data, claiming Ben King, Nick Dougall and Youcef Reguigui, Lachlan Morton fought hard to spend a day out in of the peloton on stage 6 of the Vuelta a Espana.
The Australian, making his Grand Tour debut, explained that despite having legs that "didn't want to wake up" as the breakaway tried to establish itself, he persisted with the move and was ultimately rewarded for his efforts.
"With more and more guys jumping up the road and the need to get across, there was a massive 5km chase with two Katusha dudes. Full, full effort and you know in the back of your head that it's a 200km stage with five climbs ahead," Morton wrote in his diary for Rapha. "But you also know, if you don't get across before the climb, it's game over. We made contact a little way up the road and 10 more came from behind. The break was 30 guys and a lot of big engines, but my legs felt fried."
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The rolling 202.4km stage 6 from Vila-real to Sagunt featured five categorised climbs with the longest, Alto de Alcudia de Veo, first on the menu. With little chance for rest across the day and Team Sky chasing hard for race leader Chris Froome, Morton explained that while he was feeling the efforts his thoughts were also with teammate Dougall.
"Sky were chasing full gas. I thought for a second about Nick Dougall, my teammate who came down with the same sickness that has already claimed two from our team. This was the opposite of what he needed," he said. "We dangled 1m 30s ahead of the bunch. All that suffering to get in the move and it’s going nowhere. My legs were not getting any better and as we hit the second-to-last climb they emptied. About 10 guys continued on, trying to hold off the robots in black leading the bunch. Good luck, heroes."
With a touch over 140km covered on the Puerto del Oronet, Morton explained that "my day turned from race to survival".
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