Ready for Roubaix: António Morgado is learning to love the cobbles

As he lies face down on the massage table in Compiègne, António Morgado is a man ready to get the bumps and bruises from northern France out of his system. With nigh on 100km of Paris-Roubaix reconnaissance in his legs, the young UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider is a picture of gratitude as his masseur Fabio gets to work.

“It was fun, hard and I enjoyed it,” he says of his 150-minute stint in the saddle.

Morgado and his teammates had only planned to ride the final 60km of Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix route on Friday morning, but with excitement and intrigue high ahead of the third Monument of the season, the men in black and white – with a dash of rainbows – decided to start out from the infamous Trouée d’Arenberg. Between there and the André-Pétrieux Velodrome in Roubaix, they would set a searing pace as both the public and the expectant media dashed to catch a glimpse of Morgado, world champion Tadej Pogačar and their UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates.

Some five hours on from getting reacquainted with the pavé of this famous race, the Portuguese youngster is happy to have had one last crack at the most important cobblestone sectors of the race.

“For me, it is better to pass one time through the Arenberg, so I am glad that we did the longer recon and had a proper look,” he says, no doubt pleased to be just minutes away from his evening meal and the comforting embrace of an early night.

Such a sanguine attitude towards the most brutal terrain of the cycling season might come as a surprise to some. This time last year, the then-neo-pro was enjoying a breakout campaign in the cobbled Classics but made no bones about his feelings towards these races.

In a clip shared far and wide in the aftermath of his runner-up placing in Le Samyn, the up-and-comer was asked how he was enjoying the cobbled Classics in Belgium.

“No, I don’t like these types of races, but I’m super happy with my second [place],” came his response, much to the amusement of those who had just seen him produce a ride befitting of an experienced one-day campaigner. He would go on to impress at the Tour of Flanders, becoming the youngest rider since the Second World War to finish inside the top five at ‘De Ronde.’

Now in his second season in the pro ranks with UAE Team Emirates-XRG, the obvious question to the 21-year-old is whether his attitude towards the cobbled Classics has changed since that afternoon in Belgium.

“I prefer cobbles when they are on climbs, not on flat roads. But I do like them more now than at the start of my pro career” he replies, with a wry smile.

It doesn’t take long for Morgado to explain why it has taken him time to find an appreciation for the pavé. After all, whilst these one-day races become an obvious hunting ground for rouleurs hailing from northern Europe, such ambitions do not always come naturally to those from the south.

“In the beginning, when I raced at junior and U23 level, people told me not to race these kind of events because I will not be a Classics rider in the future. So I never did them in junior or U23,” he says. “I came straight to the elites and wow, it is different.

“I have two years of this, whilst some guys at my age already have six or seven years of testing themselves on the cobbles. I think I am getting better with each opportunity, but it takes time.”

With a fifth place on debut in the Tour of Flanders last year, nowhere is Morgado best able to express his new-found affection for the cobbles than at De Ronde, which saw the 21-year-old help Pogačar to victory last Sunday afternoon. With teammates Jhonatan Narváez and Tim Wellens besieged by crashes, there was extra responsibility on Morgado’s shoulders to go as long as possible, and go long he did.

Working alongside Mikkel Bjerg to keep the day’s breakaways in check, the Portuguese found his calling at the pointy end of the peloton for nigh on 100km. When it appeared his bullets were spent, the 21-year-old drifted down the pack, seemingly destined to bid goodbye to his time at the front. But the youngster is made of steely resolve and found an extra motivation to return to Pogačar’s side and produce one final powerful pull.

Seeing his teammate bury himself one last time, Pogačar’s face lit up, and the world champion gave his nod of approval. It was an effort that left an impression on Morgado, who has a special affinity with Flanders.

“It was hard to get to the front again because I needed to pass the whole bunch, and when I arrived there I am already in the limit,” he recalls. “But of course, I tried to help the team as much as I could and I did my best.

“In Flanders, I started to feel good again and I am happy about this. Paris-Roubaix is a nice race, but Flanders is a different feeling. I really feel that in the future, it is going to be a good race for me.”

Where Pogačar can count on Morgado for his support over the cobbles, the second-year pro can rely on the support of his parents in the crowd. Despite living in Portugal, João and Maria Morgado drove well over 2,200km to watch their son make his Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix debuts last season. Their commitment, ever unwavering, saw them make the same trip from Salir do Porto to Belgium last weekend, where they were able to watch UAE Team Emirates-XRG come away with the top prize.

For Morgado, each day as a professional is a day well spent, having been brought into the sport by his father João, a keen amateur cyclist himself.

“Every effort I do on the bike is worth it, because every day I am able to achieve my dream. My parents are proud and they think I can do more, so they are always ready to motivate me to continue getting better.

“When I was young, they thought that I might become a good semi-professional cyclist in Portugal in the national races, but to join the WorldTour was beyond our imagination. Now it has happened, they are really happy for me and I really appreciate their support.”

Raised in a cycling-mad household, the 21-year-old remembers the first time he watched a Classic on television. The year was 2014 and Fabian Cancellara came out on top in Belgium to win his third and final Tour of Flanders title. It was the last Monument victory of the Swiss’ career, across which he claimed seven in total. With his victory at the same race last Sunday, Pogačar moved past the great to sit on eight Monument triumphs.

“I was super proud to be a part of Tadej’s victory,” Morgado continues. “I really like this race, I think it is one of my favourite races in the calendar.

“I got obsessed with cycling from a young age. It was always my dream to be here and I worked hard every day to make it possible. I gave up everything for this and it makes me proud to be where I am now.”

Having come full circle from Le Samyn last year, Morgado now makes it clear that these races, the ones animated by the likes of Cancellara and Tom Boonen when he was a child, are his real goals.

Although he will always have a special connection to Flanders, Roubaix is a race that requires real experience to be tamed. Anything can happen across the bruising parcours, something that the Portuguese knows all too well from his debut outing last spring.

“It is a hard race. Last year I was fully empty after 200km, because I battled against mechanicals and always fought to make it to the finish. But I hope for better luck this year and for me, the Classics that are the toughest are the best. When the racing is really hard, I can show my strength and I hope to perform at my top level for the team this weekend.”

If a top level is what Morgado is looking for, he and his teammates certainly hit their stride during the pre-race recon, in which the 21-year-old set several impressive times across the race’s toughest sectors. Under the impetus of his more experienced teammates, Morgado tackled the likes of Mons-en-Pévèle and Carrefour de l’Arbre at full tilt, readying the body for the stresses of ‘a Sunday in Hell’.

It is no wonder that the Portuguese greeted his evening massage like an old friend, after such a spell in the saddle.

“In training today, they looked unbelievable, it was hard just to keep the wheel! I just went full gas all afternoon to follow the wheels, so I know we are ready for this race.”

His confidence for Sunday is clear to see, and in debutant Pogačar, Morgado knows that the team have an extra edge to try and surpass their fourth-place finish from last year’s race. That result was scored by Politt, who will join Florian Vermeersch as two former runner-ups of Paris-Roubaix in the Emirati squad. Their status as major contenders is long since assured, but despite having never raced in the Queen of the Classics, there is little doubt over Pogačar’s pedigree for the cobbles.

As the first reigning Tour de France winner to start Paris-Roubaix since Greg LeMond in 1991, the 26-year-old is already adding a further chapter to the race’s history books. When asked to describe his teammate, Morgado puffs his cheeks out in an exclamation that says there are few words left to describe his talents.

“I think it is impossible to be surprised by him anymore, I think he can win everything,” he admits. “He is the best ever. I think he can win every race on the calendar over his career. For me, every guy who is 21 years old would love to ride with Tadej, so I feel super lucky and proud to be in this position. I am just ready to give my all for the team on Sunday.”

What expectations can Morgado have for himself, then? Beyond giving every last drop of energy for his teammates – akin to his show of force at the Tour of Flanders – what can the Portuguese hope for from this year’s Paris-Roubaix?

“I am proud to learn, I am proud to be part of this big team, and I just try to enjoy it, avoid crashing and have fun.”

As good a plan as any, Morgado will line up for UAE Team Emirates-XRG alongside Pogačar, Politt, Vermeersch, Berg, Tim Wellens and Sebastián Molano on Sunday, each of them keen to race on the front foot.

Irrespective of the result come Sunday evening, one thing is for sure, Morgado’s new home is on the cobbles and for that, cycling will be the winner. Just like his father and mother when the Classics roll around, he has come a long way from the young kid watching television with a head full of dreams in Salir do Porto.