With seventh place in the People's Choice Classic on his first experience of sprinting in a WorldTour field, Sam Welsford announced himself as a rider to watch in the Santos Tour Down Under sprints.
Turning 22 on Thursday, Welsford has become a key rider in Australia's team pursuit squad since helping them take silver in the 2016 Olympic Games. Showing no signs of intimidation on the track, Welsford was also fearless in Sunday night's criterium despite going up against the likes of Peter Sagan, Andre Greipel, Caleb Ewan and Elia Viviani.
"It was crazy at first. I was a bit nervous going in with it being my first WorldTour race but I really enjoyed the whole experience," Welsford told Cyclingnews. "In the end, it was really fierce and crazy but I was lucky enough to get seventh. I got caught up in a little crash at the finish. Hopefully, I have another opportunity in the coming days to see what I can do."
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With Steele von Hoff also lining out for UniSA-Australia, the team has two options for the sprints. While von Hoff is a proven rider at the Tour Down Under, a stage winner in 2015, Welsford is buoyed by his first sprint outing and expects to again challenge in the fast finales.
"I am quite competitive on the track in the bunch races but it is a whole different ball game in the WorldTour. You have lead outs with seven riders in front of their sprinters so it is a lot more about having better positioning leading up to the big fight at the end," he said. "It is quite like an elimination race where you are trying to surf the teams to try and stay in good position. That is the hardest thing to do, to stay up there with the teams. I really enjoyed last night and I love the fight of it so I am looking forward to the next one."
The An Post Rás was the last UCI stage race that Welsford rode but since April last year, he has enjoyed stage success at National Road Series (NRS) level and also impressed with second place in the 277-kilometre one-day Melbourne to Warrnambool classic.
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