Lachlan Morton’s AltTour creates lasting impact

17 days. 5,500 km. More than £500,000 raised for World Bicycle Relief!

In July 2021, Lachlan captured the imaginations of cyclists and non-cyclists alike around the world as he set out to complete the “Alt Tour”. He challenged himself to ride 5,500 km—every stage of the Tour de France, including transfers—unsupported. Lachlan eventually beat the peloton to Paris with five days to spare, raising funds and awareness for World Bicycle Relief in the process.  

https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Lachlan-Bike.jpeg https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Photo-Credit-Grubers_Lachlan-Morton-3-scaled.jpg Photo credit: Ashley and Jered Gruber https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/The-Alt-Tour_Day-5_30.06.21_2_Credit-Rapha-1-scaled.jpg https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/The-Alt-Tour_Day-5_30.06.21_4_Credit-Rapha-scaled.jpg https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/The-Alt-Tour_Day-18_2_Credit-Rapha-scaled.jpg Photo credit: Rapha https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Day-1_26.06_The-Alt-Tour_2_Credit_-Rapha-scaled.jpg https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Day-2_The-Alt-Tour_5_270621_Credit-Rapha-1-scaled.jpg https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/4M4A0085-scaled.jpg https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/The-Alt-Tour_Day-10_5_Credit-Rapha-1-scaled.jpg https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/4M4A1178-scaled.jpg https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Day-2_The-Alt-Tour_4_270621_Credit-Rapha-scaled.jpg

To date, more than £519,000 / USD$713,000 has been raised for World Bicycle Relief thanks to donations from Alt Tour supporters and a generous 1,000-bike donation from Rapha and EF Education-NIPPO Pro Cycling. The first round of donations will support communities in Colombia, with World Bicycle Relief’s specially designed Buffalo Bicycles scheduled for delivery in early 2022, accompanied by community-supported programming, training for field mechanics and spare parts to keep bikes running for years to come.

Unsupported endurance riding is historically a solitary experience. A test of your own personal limits that strips you back to your most basic self. I’ve had a privileged upbringing and more opportunities than anyone could hope for. I still choose the bike. The bike brings me freedoms and joy that I’ve yet to find anywhere else in my life. During The Alt Tour, in my deepest holes, I wasn’t alone. I could draw on the idea that, with each pedal stroke, I was sharing that freedom and joy with someone who hadn’t yet had the opportunity to experience riding. I could smile at the endless possibilities that a bike could bring them. In many ways, World Bicycle Relief helped me achieve my goals as much as they helped bring the beauty of the bicycle to so many. And for both those reasons, I’m forever grateful.”

—Lachlan Morton, EF Education-NIPPO Pro Cycling

Lachlan visits Colombia

In May 2022, the long ride of Lachlan Morton’s Alt Tour made its most meaningful stop yet: Colombia. From here, the Alt Tour road keeps going, as many of the bikes made possible by last summer’s donations were distributed to young women in hopes of easing travel to schools in rural areas.

“When you can provide a bike—access to transportation—in a situation where it can really be life changing, that is an incredibly rewarding thing to be a part of,” Lachlan says. “I am also interested to see, on the community level or the broader scale, the impact that bikes can have on a community.”

Lachlan joined us in Barranquilla to see firsthand how the funds raised during the Alt Tour would be used to help support communities in need. In addition to visiting World Bicycle Relief’s assembly facility, where local staff build Buffalo Bicycles, Lachlan took the bike out for a spin of his own. He also helped deliver hundreds of bikes to people in communities in rural Cordoba, and saw how their new bikes will allow them to travel further afield than they ever could before.

Lucky for us, he came back with some incredible video footage. Watch now to get a glimpse of some of the people and communities you’ve helped to mobilize with life-changing bicycles!

“On behalf of all at World Bicycle Relief, and the people we serve, our gratitude goes to Lachlan, his team and family, EF Education First, Rapha, and everybody who has contributed to this incredible activation. Chapeau to all!”

– Allison Dufosee – CEO of World Bicycle Relief UK

https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Photo-Credit-Oliver-Grenaa_Lachlan-Morton-2_Badlands-2020_jpg-1.jpg Photo credit: Oliver Grenaa https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Credit-Rapha_The-Alt-Tour_Infographic_-1-scaled.jpg Photo credit: Rapha https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/4M4A1877-scaled.jpg Photo credit: Rapha https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/The-Alt-Tour_Day-5_30.06.21_3_Credit-Rapha-scaled.jpg Photo credit: Rapha https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/The-Alt-Tour_Day-11_Credit-Rapha-scaled.jpg Photos of the bike from Cannondale https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/4M4A1053-scaled.jpg Photo credit: Rapha https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/The-Alt-Tour_Day-14_5_Credit-Rapha-scaled.jpg Photo credit: Rapha https://worldbicyclerelief.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/4M4A1022-scaled.jpg Photo credit: Rapha

In the news

As Lachlan pushed forward, the world watched in awe.

Thank you to our partners!