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Sam Welsford and BORA-hansgrohe have had an impressive start to their partnership, with the Australian sprinter’s move to the German team paying immediate dividends with three WorldTour wins already, cleaning up all the sprint stages.
“To come to the race, the first one of the season and the first time together and to pick up three stages, it’s just a product of how committed we are and how motivated we are to make sure we win together in a good way,” said Welsford of the success. “We’ve got our eyes set on some big goals this year, this is a really good stepping stone to make sure that when we get to those Grand Tours or big one-day races, that we have it dialled.”
At the Tour Down Under, BORA-hansgrohe are having it their way in the results, and each day they have delivered Welsford to the final sprint in the top few positions, allowing Welsford to unleash his sprint with little concern for getting boxed in or being exposed to the wind too early. Ryan Mullen, second-last man for Welsford’s leadout train has been crucial to that, piloting Danny van Poppel through consistently through to 500 metres to go, where the Dutchman powers to the front to keep Welsford from getting swamped.
Mullen explained how the team approached sprint finishes.
“Danny knows from the last two years just to stick to me, knows that even if it’s not perfect, we have the horsepower to fix our mistakes,” said Mullen. “We just have that trust, and we’ve drilled it into Sam. Even if I mess up, he (van Poppel) doesn’t. Sam obviously has the watts from the track to handle our leadout, and it’s a pretty hard leadout, nine times out of ten we take it on from the front.
“We just use brawn as opposed to brains, and that suits Sam as he’s got the watts to handle it. Not a lot of sprinters do, they’ll hide in the wheels, but Sam’s got the HP to take the wind on and lay down the watts.”
Whether that reliance on brute power will be as effective when there are more in-form sprint trains competing for the front at bunch finishes is yet to be seen, with Mullen also saying that BORA-hansgrohe have some improvement left in them.
“Obviously, it will be a different level to what we’re seeing here,” said Mullen. “We’re not getting complacent because it’s still January. I’m not in my top shape, I’m about three kilos too heavy at the moment. If we keep building we should be able to compete.”
The affable Irishman revealed why he was so happy to work with Welsford, the result of seeing him in action on the track before his professional road racing career.
“I’m in the room with him, I just love Aussies and Kiwis, maybe it’s just the Irish-Aussie bond that goes on, but he’s a great guy. I actually watched him five years ago on the track in Melbourne, a long time ago now, but I was in awe of what he was doing on the track.
“When I saw he came to DSM I told everyone ‘keep an eye on him, I guarantee he starts winning big in the next few years’, just from what I saw on the track.
“He showed a lot of promise at DSM, coming off the back of not well-structured leadouts. Ralph Denk scouted Sam and he’s obviously done the homework and realised that he can handle the leadout. Taken a gamble, but obviously it’s paid off so far.”
Welsford himself is enjoying the experience, getting himself to the point where he’s being recognised as one of the top sprinters now that he’s on the end of a good leadout train at BORA-hansgrohe.
“I was giving some calls about whether to go or not, but with guys like Danny and Ryan in front of you, you can literally turn your brain off and they’ll do the whole thing for you,” said Welsford. “They’re so smart, and they’re on the same wavelength with everything we do. Danny seems to see things before they happen and for me it’s important to have that belief in them, and for them to have that belief in me that whenever they put me there, it will be ok.”
BORA-hansgrohe also have Tour de France stagewinner Jordi Meeus in the squad, who may compete at times with Welsford for the big races and the pick of the sprint train, but after delivering these key results, Welsford may well get some more heft in requesting his pick of races and teammates.
He’s currently down to do some classics and the Giro d’Italia, before focusing on a last bid on the track at the Olympics in Paris, you can read more about his plans for 2024 in SBS Sport’s conversation with Welsford pre-Tour Down Under below.
