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Perfect start for Bora-hansgrohe as Welsford claims stage one sprint  at the 2025 Tour Down Under

Sam Welsford delivered a spectacular performance on the first stage of the 2025 Tour Down Under, powering to victory in the sprint finish in Gumeracha and taking the ochre leader’s jersey.

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The Australian sprinter’s win came after a strong lead-out by his teammate Danny van Poppel, who kept the pace high throughout the final kilometres. Despite Welsford launching his sprint a little earlier than intended, his strong kick carried him across the line first. It was a perfect start to the season for Welsford, who already claimed victories at the National Criterium Championships and the Villawood Classic. The rest of the squad played a pivotal role throughout the stage, controlling the break and setting Welsford up for a strong sprint finish, a testament to the cohesive spirit of the team in Adelaide. They'll be looking to build on this early success in the upcoming stages in South Australia.

Sam Welsford said afterwards, "It was hard to control the pace at the front, but the guys did an incredible job and I'm really pleased that I was able to repay their efforts with this win. It was a really hard sprint to the finish line. In every corner someone wanted to get on the inside and we had to give everything to stay up front. I think I could have actually stayed on Danny's wheel a bit longer, as he still had more left when I made my move. I was fortunate to have had just enough of a lead to fend off Brennan in the end. After winning three sprint stages here last year, we definitely have something to prove this year. Nobody gave us any gifts today, but with the guys, especially Filip, riding at the front of the field for most of the day, we always had the race well under control. I'm very happy to have taken the first win of this year's WorldTour season - it's a fantastic feeling to start the year like this."

To start off, two riders were already unable to start the race due to injuries suffered at a mass crash in the Down Under Classic, they were Movistar's Manlio Moro and Arkéa's Miles Scotson. However, the very fast and dangerous sprint finish led to another crash.

Dylan van Baarle was involved and fractured a collarbone. Among those confirmed to have gone down were Nikias Arndt and Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain - Victorious, Markel Beloki of EF Education-EasyPost, Tom Paquot of Intermarché - Wanty, Henok Mulubrhan of XDS Astana Team and Australia champion Luke Durbridge.

Tour Down Under: Stage 1 Highlights

2025 Tour Down Under: Stage 1 Results

01  Welsford Sam Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe 03:26:38
02  Brennan Matthew Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 00
03  Walls Matthew Groupama-FDJ + 00
04  Teutenberg Tim Torn Lidl-Trek + 00
05  Swift Ben INEOS Grenadiers + 00
06  Dehairs Simon Alpecin-Deceuninck + 00
07  Strong Corbin Israel-Premier Tech + 00
08  Oliveira Rui UAE Team Emirates XRG + 00
09  Bauhaus Phil Bahrain Victorious + 00
10  Mosca Jacopo Lidl-Trek + 00

2025 Tour Down Under GC after Stage 1

01  Welsford Sam Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe 03:26:28
02  Brennan Matthew Team Visma | Lease a Bike + 04
03  Marriage Zac Australia + 05
04  Walls Matthew Groupama-FDJ + 06
05  Tronchon Bastien Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale + 07
06  Browning Fergus Australia + 07
07  Narvaez Jhonatan UAE Team Emirates XRG + 09
08  Teutenberg Tim Torn Lidl-Trek + 10
09  Swift Ben INEOS Grenadiers + 10
10  Dehairs Simon Alpecin-Deceuninck + 10