History was made this Sunday for Portuguese cycling, with UAE Team Emirates rider António Morgado entering the last kilometre of the Tour of Flanders in the group that would compete for the podium of the race, won indisputably by Alpecin-Deucenick rider Mathieu van der Poel.
Morgado was visibly tired afterwards, but satisfied with the result obtained in the race: "I'm super happy, I didn't expect a good result like this. I wouldn't believe it if they told me I was going to make the top five, but I'm very happy with the team's performance and my performance," he told O Jogo.
The under-23 world runner-up even tried to attack the race, but admitted at the end that he felt "headaches at the start" without giving up, and confessed that he was motivated "to finish the race, as it was one of my goals".
In the meantime, the Portuguese rolled up his sleeves and went for it, after the initial phase in which he felt less good: "I worked for it. Halfway through the race, I started to feel great and then I knew I could fight for a top 10 finish. I suffered a lot because I wasn't in the best position," he says.
Having underlined the excellent teamwork that allowed his teammate Nils Politt to finish in the lowest place on the podium, Morgado had an extra reason to fight for an honorable place in Flanders, as the finish line was attended by his family, who had traveled from Portugal to support the 20-year-old from Caldas da Raínha.
Not long ago, after the Le Samyn semi classic, where he took an extraordinary second place, Morgado said that he "didn't like this type of race", but with yesterday's result, he says he's ready for new achievements and ready to "fight for great races": "I didn't think it was possible this year. Now I have that motivation. I'm starting to like these races, not that I didn't, but it's a new challenge".
It is never too much to remember the feat of the young man from Caldas da Raínha, who at just 20 years and 63 days, is the third youngest cyclist since the Second World War to finish in the top 10 of a Cycling Monument and the youngest since Joseph Wouters in 1962.
António's next big adventure will be next Sunday, when he will make his debut in the "Hell of the North", none other than the extremely demanding Paris-Roubaix, which, in addition to the thousands of people who will be out on the French roads supporting the cyclists, will have the sport's fans in front of their televisions, this year for the Portuguese with an extra reason to be even more excited about the race: António Morgado.
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