Racing the Tour: Sandals, sleeping bags and the best pastries in France

How Lachlan Morton turned the clock back to the early days of the Tour and made it to Paris on his own.

Lachlan Morton alt Tour
(Image credit: Rapha)

Standing under bunting featuring yellow, green and polka dot jerseys, and with a large sign a few metres ahead of me celebrating the arrival of the Tour de France in Saint-Gaudens in just four days, I am getting impatient. Not for the Tour’s arrival, but for Lachlan Morton. I’ve been trying to catch him the previous three days, but he is so fast, so intent on making it to Paris ahead of the actual Tour, I keep missing him.

Looking at my watch, I tell myself yet again that yes this definitely is the roundabout I’d been told he’d pass. He then appeared, his wheels screaming around a roundabout, tightening his sandals (more on this to come) and then bombing down a hill. 

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