Danny van Poppel believes Sam Welsford can reach the same giddy heights as some of cycling’s greatest sprinters after stage one of the Tour Down Under.
Welsford – in his first WorldTour race with new team Bora-Hansgrohe – took line honours on the back of a perfectly timed lead-out, beating Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) by a wheel length plus Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) and Caleb Ewan (Jayco-Alula) by more.
Van Poppel appeared as excited, if not more, by the result as the Australian sprinter, who joins the squad after two seasons with dsm-firmenich PostNL and with an eye to the track at the Olympic Games in Paris this year.
With all the attention around Primož Roglič’s transfer to Jumbo-Visma the movement of sprinters at the team, including Irish champion Sam Bennett’s departure at the end of last season and Welsford’s introduction, was largely overlooked. But not by Van Poppel, who relished in the infectious feeling that is winning in South Australia on Tuesday, with the Dutchman and Ryan Mullen, who have both refined their crafts working for Bennett, combining successfully once more in delivering a different Sam to the line.
“We did [the lead-out] often last year but it was with Bennett. It turned out not really well, but the new Sam, he’s a powerhouse, and we knew if we can do the perfect lead-out he can hold the power because he pushed a lot of power,” Van Poppel said post-race, after placing seventh following the lead out.
Bora-Hansgrohe assembled at the front of the bunch inside the last two kilometres, with three riders, including Welsford, on the front with just over a kilometre remaining.
“He has so much power from the track. I think if you do a lead-out like, these guys, like [Marcel] Kittel, [Andre] Greipel, Welsford, they can do it, and that’s exactly what we need. I was waiting for a, for a, it’s hard to say, a fast sprinter – even Sam Bennett is a good friend of mine, in the end, it’s business and we want to win.
“He’s [Welsford] a relaxed guy and to be honest he’s just riding two years in the WorldTour, so everything is new for him and he’s super hungry still. He can be the new sprinter. With us it’s a perfect combination, I think.”
Mutual admiration
Welsford was equally complimentary of his new teammates. The 27-year-old, who completed his first Tour de France last year, says he has spent some time with his new team training over the pre-season.
“I did a training camp in Mallorca with them and then we only did a couple of simulation efforts, but you don’t need too much training when you’ve got Danny van Poppel, Ryan Mullen and all the boys in front of you there. They are pretty good, they are pretty special,” he said.
“[Van Poppel] was amazing. He was also rallying us in the last three kilometres, keeping us calm, telling us where to go. It is this thing that everyone says, he can almost see it before it happens, see stuff in slow motion, and that’s one of his biggest strengths to have in the team.
“He was incredible in the last 400m or so he did before me for the sprint. I was on the wheel, and I was like, ‘This is already hard for me on the wheel,’ and then I had to kick, but that’s all [what it's] about, sprinting, having that last guy.”
Welsford said it is not that there is anything particularly different in his new team's approach, but attributes the result more to the experience of his lead-out.
“It’s hard to say anything different, just more approaching it in a way that is being patient, letting other people do it for you,” Welsford reflected.
“You know how hard the run-ins are, you can’t afford to race guys for no reason in the lead-outs because every minute you have saving a guy helps you in the final, especially with how fast the speeds are now. The days are gone where you can have five guys into the last two kilometres. Now, it’s like two guys for the last three kilometres, and you have to kind of surf just because the level is so high now.
“It’s hard to say any different, but just a bit more experience maybe.”
Welsford took the first ochre leader’s jersey with the win, and if energy is anything to go on, there is more to come from the outfit with Bernhard Eisel and the recently retired Shane Archbold as sports directors.
“Sprinters feed off confidence and the only time you get that is if you are getting good results so for us to get the first win of the season as a team, the first race together, is a good sign of what we can do together,” said Welsford.
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