For example - it says Morton was riding for 12 hours a day. Same riders on tour would be doing that ride in significantly less time. A completely different ride and bicycling capabilities.
I'm not diminishing what he has accomplished (which is awesome) just pointing out the differences.
For example: Sepp Kuss who won the stage the other day (https://www.strava.com/activities/5612150086) effort vs the ride by Morton Lachlan (https://www.strava.com/activities/5595556740). Morton's riding a roughly different ride (same terrain but different set up) and riding by about half the speed and 30% more distance.
Lachlan was one of handful of pro/ex-pro riders to start tackling the Everesting[1] record as well, which is a clear example of his ability to ride at (and above) the "level of work involved" in a TdF mountain stage.
Drafting (riding behind another cyclist) can cut the effort by about 30%. So, the rider at the front of the peloton might be doing ~400 watts (and likely more, especially in the last hour of a ~5 hour stage), while cyclists in the back are only doing ~280 watts.
To put that in context, as an average masters cyclist, 400 watts is an output I can do for a couple of minutes at most. And 280 watts is an output I can maintain for about an hour.
A top Tour overall contender will average >200 watts over the stage, and on a critical climb, might average 350-400 watts mostly solo (or in small groups) for 10-30 minutes.
Discussion of Uran's power in a stage win from 2017... https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/tour-de-france/rig...
Not from the Tour, but analysis of a young pro's power during his 2019 win at the 1-day Amstel Gold race... https://cyclingtips.com/2019/04/mathieu-van-der-poel-power-w...
A strong recreational cyclist might have an FTP of 4 w/kg (FTP = functional threshold power = power one can maintain for an hour in perfect conditions). I can hit that target at peak fitness, but most of the year, I'm well below.
Mathieu van der Poel is about 75kg with an FTP above 400 watts. Over 5w/kg. He's a relatively heavy professional cyclist, but an amazing all around cyclist who can climb, sprint, and win just about any day.
Tadej Pogacar, the current Tour leader, weighs about the same as me (68kg), but has an FTP somewhere around 400 watts. Or 5.8w/kg.
Of course, 1 hour power isn't everything. The 5, 10, and 20 minute power these guys can generate is even more mind-boggling (not to mention more critical on race day, as they have to cover attacks and break-aways).
The competitors take a team bus.
So as long as it's not off-road and it's properly charged, then electronic shifting is very, very reliable and standard kit for many ultra-distance riders, see, e.g. https://www.redbull.com/nz-en/trans-continental-race-kit-gui... and the late, great Mike Hall's bike https://road.cc/content/tech-news/219030-bike-check-mike-hal...
Benefits from an ultra-distance pov include quicker/cleaner shifting holds momentum better. Reduced chain rub and gear maintenance requirements. Less force is required to change gear which decreases the risk of repetitive strain injury. And the ability to add satellite shifters (aka "blips") to aero bars and the tops, which makes it easier to hold a riding position. Oh, and they can also be set up to be more intuitive to use than trying to remember how to juggle front and the rear mech's when completely and utterly spent :-)
All incremental at normal scale, but I can definitely see why it'd worth it to him at the scale of Lachlan's rides.
Surprising choice for a long race based on durability thats all. A guess it is a trade off decision -- work vs reliability.
This Alt Tour was 200mi/day, 12hr/day
You'd need more precise bookkeeping to calculate how impressive his speed was, but his endurance is incredible.
A confounding factor is that at high speeds going a little faster takes a bunch more energy/biological resources (both wind and biomuscular effects), which counteracts some of the peloton advantage.