When the entry list for the elite men's road race at the Australian Cycling National Championships was announced, an unexpected name jumped out at me--Lachlan Morton (EF Education Easypost). With the athlete having announced that he will be stepping away from top-level road racing altogether and adopting an alternative calendar, will he have a comeback on the road?

But it was not to be.

"I was in Australia. I thought it was my only chance to race on the road this year," Morton told Cycling News. 'I just thought I'd come and see how it went and nothing more.'

Back in Australia for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic to see his family for Christmas, Morton trained for the race, a 185.6-km circuit that included the climb of Mount Buninyon Road. Without a teammate, he wore number 27 to support his wife in the feed zone as he competed in the Australian Road Championships, a race packed with professionals returning from the World Tour.

"I was well prepared, but I hadn't done a road race in about 10 months, so I wasn't sure how it was going to go, and to be honest, it was exactly what I expected," Morton said with a laugh.

It was a retiree for Morton, who has grown accustomed to running long distances and was not one to sit quietly in the field and make it count in order to finish, rolling the dice with gusto from the beginning of the race.

On the second lap of the race, Morton joined a group of 17 riders. The temperature was in the 30s, but the afternoon sun made it feel warmer. He often paced at the front, and it was clear that this move was his Plan A, and perhaps Plans B and C.

"I'm not sure if this was a good idea, but it was a good idea.

"I figured, since I'm here, I'm going to do it," he said. My only chance to get to the front in this race was to get in front of the stronger racers."

However, the pack was not working as well as Morton had hoped and the gap was not large enough. Therefore, Morton went out on his own with just over 120 km to go.

"I figured if I went, someone would come across or at least force those guys to work a little bit. But yeah, I never dreamed of going to the finish or anything like that."

He was pulled back, and then a five-man breakaway group that included Luke Durbridge pulled away from the front, leaving Morton in the chase group, but after more than 100 km of the 185.6 km race, Morton and the rest of the breakaway group were swallowed by a group of potential winners. Then the acceleration began, and "by that time my legs were pretty much fried," Morton said. The race was over for Morton.

"It was cool coming here. I was counting laps from the start to the end. So I think I've had enough of this race and I feel good," Morton said.

"You come here and race, you're happy enough with your preparation, you see how far you can go, and you still think, 'I don't have to do this anymore. Otherwise, you always end up cheating yourself, thinking that you can come back there again. But now I enjoy doing different races."

"I've done enough laps of Buninyong, so I don't need to do another race.

With the Australian Championships over, the big move to Adelaide for the Tour Down Under begins. However, he did not line up with the rest of the peloton and went back to running his own way. Instead, the group, organized by former teammate Mitch Docker, will ride from Melbourne to Adelaide, a little over 700 km.