After Olympic gold, Welsford must prove himself to get another shot at Tour: "I want to become the best sprinter possible"

Sam Welsford started 2024 on a high note with three stage wins in the Tour Down Under. Expectations for the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe sprinter were high after that, but he wasn’t able to fully meet them. This was partly because he was focused on the Olympic Games, where he ultimately won gold for Australia in the Team Pursuit. With that mission accomplished, Welsford can now fully focus on road racing in 2025.

At Red Bull, Welsford can rely on Danny van Poppel as an excellent lead-out man. However, Van Poppel expressed his dissatisfaction with their collaboration in an interview with IDLProCycling.com. "It has been a huge disappointment for me because after Sam Bennett left (in 2022, ed.), I was hoping for a fresh start, so this was not what I expected. I firmly believe that if there’s a fast sprinter behind me, we can win ten to fifteen times a year. I truly believe in that, and I don’t say these things lightly. So, I was very disappointed," Van Poppel admitted.

This winter, however, Van Poppel gave the Australian another chance. "Since Sam moved to Monaco, we’ve been training together every day, and now I see it as a bit of a project. Of course, he's coming from the track and has only been a pro for three years, so I need to be realistic. I hope I’ve taught him a lot. I've shared some secrets, and given him valuable insights. Tonight, we’re going to watch sprint videos, and we’ll see how it goes. I’m trying to share all my experience so he can perform as well as possible."

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Welsford was in excellent form in the Tour Down Under

Welsford: "The possibility to do a Grand Tour is there"

For the Welsford project to succeed at the highest level in 2025, results will need to come quickly. Since Red Bull became the team’s main sponsor, the bar has been raised significantly. Additionally, the team boasts several strong Grand Tour contenders, including Primoz Roglic, Aleksandr Vlasov, Daniel Felipe Martínez, Jai Hindley, and Florian Lipowitz, all of whom aspire to make their mark in a Grand Tour.

For this reason, Welsford is not guaranteed a spot in a Grand Tour in 2025, as he explained to Cyclingnews. "It's tricky because we also have a lot of really good GC guys in the team, so there's also a lot of GC focus for Grand Tours. But, The Tour has a lot of sprints and the Giro has a few as well, so the possibility to do a Grand Tour is there, but we have to see how the season goes and what the team goals are," Welsford acknowledged.

"But I'm really looking forward to just having a consistent season and just trying to win throughout the year a lot more," Welsford continued. "I think if you're winning in these big races, that opens up a lot more doors." Welsford made his Tour de France debut in 2023, where his best result was tenth place in a stage. He hopes to have the chance to redeem himself. "The dream for most people is to win a stage at the Tour. I think doing the Tour two years, I got a really good taste for what it's like at the top. I'm really keen to try to get there again but let's see what the team says."

In any case, Welsford is highly motivated to repay Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe for giving him the opportunity to pursue Olympic gold in Paris. "Having a team who support you on the track isn't really beneficial for them — at the end of the day, you're not running the Red Bull kit, you're not running Red Bull bikes. I'm super thankful that they allowed me to take time away from my job, essentially, they pay the wages, they pay you to be a pro, so yeah I was super happy to get it. Also for me, if I put my mind on something, I can really achieve it and show the team that I can be now fully committed to the road and see if I can be the best sprinter possible," Welsford concluded with determination.

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