Portuguese António Morgado took second place in the under-23s at the Road Cycling World Championships in Glasgow this Saturday, repeating junior silver in 2022 after struggling with cramps in the finals.
Morgado, just 19 years old, finished two seconds behind new champion Frenchman Axel Laurens after a 168.4km run between Loch Lomond and Glasgow, which Laurens completed in 4:04.58 hours. Slovak Martin Svrcek was third.
In the under-23s’ first year, Morgado added a new medal at the World Championships after finishing second in the 2022 Junior World Championships and has already signed with the UAE Emirates for 2024.
In tears after the stage, Morgado recovered from the effort and what he overcame in his debut at the Under-23 World Championships, from the rain that made the race difficult and caused several falls, to the lack of cooperation in the group chasing Axel Laurens. .
The hardness, at first, has already distracted Daniel Lima from falling while entering a Glasgow city highway, resulting in the hospitalization of the young man, who is still being examined at the hospital center.
Alexandre Montes also failed to finish the selection, in which Goncalo Tavares also placed 37th and Diogo Gonçalves placed 53rd.
At the head of the race, Morgado suffered cramps entering the final lap of the track, hitting his foot after asking for fluid from a fellow racer, but he gritted his teeth and a good reading of the race brought him back to the podium.
With Laurens narrowly ahead, an impressive win that came at the break of the day and that shows the value of the cyclist from the Alpecin development team, the pursuers decided to fight for the remaining places.
Morgado and Svrchek were the first to pursue the fugitives, who “suffered” from speed, with the exception of the Frenchman, and the misunderstanding of the rest of the group of pursuers played a decisive role.
With no way to “hunt” him, it was Morgado’s superb sprint that led him to the same result he achieved last year as a junior, right in his first year under 23.
Long targeted for big “flights” in the WorldTour in 2024, the Caldas da Rainha cyclist has once again shown his worth with the best result among the Portuguese under 23s in a long-distance race.
Rui Costa’s fifth place in 2008 was the previous best record, and Morgado also has the best among juniors, silver in 2022 – missing the elite level at which Rui Costa was world champion in 2013.
Portugal won another medal at the cycling world championships in Glasgow after Youri Leitao became world champion in the omnium, an Olympic track race, and an important new result adding Nelson Oliveira’s sixth place in the elite. a time trial worth an extra spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics.