Welsford thanks Van Poppel for crucial role: "He did the perfect lead-out and he had a lot more to give"

The Tour Down Under opening stage on Tuesday suited Sam Welsford of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe perfectly. The home rider completed an outstanding lead-out from his team in Gumeracha. Still, it certainly didn't go as easy as it looked, according to the winner—his story afterward, with special thanks to Danny van Poppel and the other teammates.

"Bloody hell," began Welsford, winner of the criterium before the stage race with his trademark Aussie accent in the flash interview. "I get tired and sick of going early now, haha," he was referring to that criterium win, where he also needed a long sprint to win. In Gumeracha, it earned him - as it did last year - the ochre jersey at the end of the first stage of the Tour Down Under.

"It was a super hard run-in," continued the man, well-placed thanks to the lead-out of Van Poppel. "I probably stepped off Danny a little too early, actually. I think he had a lot more to give, but he did such a big good job and he was on the front for so long ... we probably hit the front a bit early and that last straight was super hard to control the front," Welsford looked back at the final kilometers of the opening stage.

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Welsford had no energy left to cheer

"It was pretty hard and they were getting dive bummed every corner so we had to come back a bit and wait because we ran out of guys. The boys did an amazing job today," Welsford sincerely complimented his teammates. "We took it on, we were the only team riding all day into the end and so happy to pay them back with a win," stated the delighted winner.

That sprint did not go off without a hitch, Welsford hints. "I checked when I went and I was like: ooh, this is long. I could see someone underneath me, under my shoulder, but my legs were burning with fifty meters to go. I realized I had it, but still, someone was coming on my left," he refers to Visma | Lease a Bike rider, Matthew Brennan. "But I was already so cooked, I couldn't even throw my arms in the air anymore," said the exhausted 29-year-old winner after the finish.

On Wednesday, a new challenge awaits Welsford and co in the second stage of the Tour Down Under, which takes the peloton over Menglers Hill to Tanunda. The two-kilometer climb must be completed thrice at with more than six percent average. The last passage is just over 20 kilometers from the finish line, after which there are mainly downhill kilometers to follow. He defends a four-second lead in the GC over Brennan, who finished second in his WorldTour debut.

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Want to know when and where the most exciting races of 2025 will take place? Check out our updated 2025 cycling calendars for the men's and women's peloton!

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