Interview | DSM sprinter Welsford heads to Tour with luxury lead-out Degenkolb: "A few podium finishes would be great"

Welsford is originally a track cyclist who specialized in team pursuit. At the 2016 Olympics, the now 27-year-old athlete even sprinted his way to a silver medal in that discipline. He also achieved multiple world titles in the team pursuit (2016, 2017). However, Welsford increasingly felt the urge to pursue his ambitions in road cycling, so the Aussie decided to fulfill his road racing dreams. After riding for several continental teams and making a name for himself, he secured a contract with Team DSM at the highest level in 2022.

Thing started happening quite quickly for Welsford, who in his first year as a full-time professional immediately sprinted to a third-place finish in the Scheldeprijs, among other achievements. In the Tour of Turkey, he even won a stage right away, defeating some formidable riders, including Jasper Philipsen. 2023 also started off strong for the sprinter, who returned home with two stage wins after the Vuelta a San Juan. In short, Welsford's road cycling career has developed at a rapid pace, and as a result, he is considered one of the dark horses in the bunch sprints at the Tour de France.

"I feel great and can't wait to start the Tour," Welsford opens up to this website. "I got into a good racing rhythm with the ZLM Tour and the Baloise Belgium Tour. I'm happy to have participated in those races." 'La Grande Boucle' will be Welsford's Grand Tour debut, and that makes the sturdy Oceania rider a bit nervous. "I'm a little bit nervous. It's quite special to make your Grand Tour debut in the Tour. Fortunately, we're going to the race with a strong team, and I can rely on a lot of support. It's truly a frenzy out there, with all the media attention and everything. So, the key is to keep it simple," he says with a big smile.

Most likely, Welsford can count on a strong lead-out train in the bunch sprints. Riders like Nils Eekhoff, Alex Edmondson and Degenkolb will sacrifice themselves for their sprint leader in the flat stages. "I think nowadays you really need a train," says the runner-up of the most recent Scheldeprijs. "It's too difficult to squeeze yourself in there by yourself. If you look at the top sprinters today, they all have a good train. Sprinting is simply a team sport, so you really need those guys helping you, protecting you. If the lead-out can put me among the first five to ten riders, it should work out," says the sprinter, who also mentions that Cameron Meyer, who retired in 2022, was his idol in his youth. "He grew up in the same region as I did. A true local legend, haha! He became a world champion on the track so many times, so when I saw that as a kid, I was instantly hooked."

When asked about what would make the Tour de France a success for him, the mustached cyclist takes a moment to think. "It's difficult to determine what success means. I think, for me, it's mainly about learning and personal development. I don't believe that a good result necessarily equates to success or a successful race. But if I have to answer the question, I would be extremely satisfied with a few podium finishes. That would be fantastic, especially considering how high the bar is here," he says, referring to the presence of riders such as Wout van Aert, Fabio Jakobsen and Jasper Philipsen.

"Moreover, everyone is at their peak and very well prepared," he continues. "That makes it even more challenging than it already is. But when you achieve a good result under those circumstances, it becomes even more special. We start with a demanding opening weekend in the Basque Country. If I manage to get through that well, there will be several great opportunities for me. At the same time, I can learn a lot and absorb as much as possible. After this Grand Tour, I will likely have made significant progress in terms of form. We'll see how long I can endure, as the mountains might kill me. In any case, it will be an incredible experience!" the amiable Aussie concludes.

Degenkolb, of course, is getting a bit older, but the ten-time stage winner in the Vuelta a España is far from being the type of rider to sit back and accept his fate. On the contrary, the 34-year-old champion is hoping to now really push himself to the maximum. The classic spring of 2023 did not disappoint for the man who won two Monuments in his career (he triumphed in both Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix in 2015). In the Paris-Roubaix race won by Mathieu van der Poel, he impressively rode his way to a seventh-place finish. "I'm satisfied with my spring season," the man from Gera tells this website. "My form was consistently improving."

After the 'Hell of the North,' Degenkolb took a short rest period. "Afterward, I started preparing for the Tour de France," he continues, emphasizing once again that he is filled with ambition. "As a team, we also started working on fine-tuning the lead-out train. And in that aspect as well, we have been improving every day." Degenkolb will sacrifice himself for Welsford in the flat stages of the world's biggest cycling race.

"In the Tour, we go all in on Sam," he openly states the sprint ambitions of the Dutch team. Together with Nils Eekhoff and Alex Edmondson, Degenkolb is part of the sprint preparation trio. "Sam is the fastest finisher within our team. That's why we're going to support him as much as possible."

Naturally, Degenkolb would also like to have the opportunity to ride for his own success occasionally, although he remains somewhat modest when considering his own chances. "There are always opportunities, you simply can't ignore them, especially in a Grand Tour. The route of the Tour is special this year, with those challenging stages in the beginning," he refers to the demanding opening weekend in the Basque Country. "So, we'll have to see how the race unfolds. But I'm fairly certain that there will come a day when the team tells me I can go for it, and I can do it. That could be either in a breakaway or in a sprint with a smaller group."

Youri van den Berg (Twitter: @YourivndnBerg)