Deja Vu - Sam Welsford and perfect leadout deliver first Tour Down Under win on 2025 season opener
Cycling
The World Tour season has officially begun for the men's peloton and we have got a non-surprising winner on the first day of the Tour Down Under. Like last year, Sam Welsford opened up his winning tab on the first bunch sprint of the race.
The breakaway of the day consisted only of two riders from the Australian national team, Zac Marriage and Fergus Browning, with the latter being the new KOM classification leader. But the modest breakaway didn't pressure the peloton into a fast pace, and it was a calm stage.
They were caught with 23 kilometers to go and then it was all about the final sprint. The final kilometers were incredibly fast with the twisty downhill finish, and as expected Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe managed to have the strongest leadout.
Danny van Poppel launched the sprint for Welsford perfectly, and the Australian managed to start his effort from the front and take the victory on stage 1 to take the ochre jersey, beating Matthew Brennan and Matthew Walls to the win.
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| 1 | Welsford Sam | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | 03:26:38 | |
| 2 | Brennan Matthew | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | + 00 | |
| 3 | Walls Matthew | Groupama-FDJ | + 00 | |
| 4 | Teutenberg Tim Torn | Lidl-Trek | + 00 | |
| 5 | Swift Ben | INEOS Grenadiers | + 00 | |
| 6 | Dehairs Simon | Alpecin-Deceuninck | + 00 | |
| 7 | Strong Corbin | Israel-Premier Tech | + 00 | |
| 8 | Oliveira Rui | UAE Team Emirates XRG | + 00 | |
| 9 | Bauhaus Phil | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 10 | Mosca Jacopo | Lidl-Trek | + 00 | |
| 11 | Lund Andresen Tobias | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 | |
| 12 | Uhlig Henri | Alpecin-Deceuninck | + 00 | |
| 13 | Gate Aaron | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 14 | Scott Cameron | Australia | + 00 | |
| 15 | Marit Arne | Intermarché-Wanty | + 00 | |
| 16 | Coquard Bryan | Cofidis | + 00 | |
| 17 | Canal Carlos | Movistar Team | + 00 | |
| 18 | Vendrame Andrea | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | + 00 | |
| 19 | van Poppel Danny | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | + 00 | |
| 20 | Raccagni Noviero Andrea | Soudal Quick-Step | + 00 | |
| 21 | Tesfazion Natnael | Movistar Team | + 00 | |
| 22 | Stewart Campbell | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 | |
| 23 | Williams Stephen | Israel-Premier Tech | + 00 | |
| 24 | Boven Lars | Alpecin-Deceuninck | + 00 | |
| 25 | Grondin Donavan | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | + 00 | |
| 26 | Pedersen Casper | Soudal Quick-Step | + 00 | |
| 27 | Askey Lewis | Groupama-FDJ | + 00 | |
| 28 | Lapeira Paul | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | + 00 | |
| 29 | Smith Dion | Intermarché-Wanty | + 00 | |
| 30 | Chaves Esteban | EF Education-EasyPost | + 00 | |
| 31 | Walker Max | EF Education-EasyPost | + 00 | |
| 32 | Norsgaard Mathias Sunekær | Movistar Team | + 00 | |
| 33 | Sheffield Magnus | INEOS Grenadiers | + 00 | |
| 34 | Verre Alessandro | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | + 00 | |
| 35 | Hamilton Lucas | INEOS Grenadiers | + 00 | |
| 36 | Vine Jay | UAE Team Emirates XRG | + 00 | |
| 37 | Torres Pablo | UAE Team Emirates XRG | + 00 | |
| 38 | Nerurkar Lukas | EF Education-EasyPost | + 00 | |
| 39 | Konrad Patrick | Lidl-Trek | + 00 | |
| 40 | Bagioli Andrea | Lidl-Trek | + 00 | |
| 41 | Harper Chris | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 | |
| 42 | Woods Michael | Israel-Premier Tech | + 00 | |
| 43 | Pescador Diego | Movistar Team | + 00 | |
| 44 | Withen Philipsen Albert | Lidl-Trek | + 00 | |
| 45 | Davy Clément | Groupama-FDJ | + 00 | |
| 46 | Watson Sam | INEOS Grenadiers | + 00 | |
| 47 | Le Huitouze Eddy | Groupama-FDJ | + 00 | |
| 48 | Kwiatkowski Michal | INEOS Grenadiers | + 00 | |
| 49 | Porter Rudy | Australia | + 00 | |
| 50 | Tronchon Bastien | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | + 00 | |
| 51 | Zimmermann Georg | Intermarché-Wanty | + 00 | |
| 52 | Swift Connor | INEOS Grenadiers | + 00 | |
| 53 | Isidore Noa | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | + 00 | |
| 54 | Côté Pier-André | Israel-Premier Tech | + 00 | |
| 55 | Huising Menno | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | + 00 | |
| 56 | De Pooter Dries | Intermarché-Wanty | + 00 | |
| 57 | Pithie Laurence | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | + 00 | |
| 58 | Eddy Patrick | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 | |
| 59 | Eenkhoorn Pascal | Soudal Quick-Step | + 00 | |
| 60 | Mahoudo Nolann | Cofidis | + 00 | |
| 61 | Renard Alexis | Cofidis | + 00 | |
| 62 | Conci Nicola | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 63 | Higuita Sergio | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 64 | Graat Tijmen | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | + 00 | |
| 65 | Rodriguez Cristian | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | + 00 | |
| 66 | Izagirre Ion | Cofidis | + 00 | |
| 67 | Rochas Rémy | Groupama-FDJ | + 00 | |
| 68 | van Belle Loe | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | + 00 | |
| 69 | Narvaez Jhonatan | UAE Team Emirates XRG | + 00 | |
| 70 | Glivar Gal | Alpecin-Deceuninck | + 00 | |
| 71 | Labrosse Jordan | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | + 00 | |
| 72 | Howson Damien | Australia | + 00 | |
| 73 | Marriage Zac | Australia | + 00 | |
| 74 | Busatto Francesco | Intermarché-Wanty | + 00 | |
| 75 | Bennett George | Israel-Premier Tech | + 00 | |
| 76 | Fisher-Black Finn | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | + 00 | |
| 77 | López Martin | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 78 | Van den Bossche Fabio | Alpecin-Deceuninck | + 00 | |
| 79 | Todome Yuhi | EF Education-EasyPost | + 00 | |
| 80 | O'Brien Kelland | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 | |
| 81 | Onley Oscar | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 | |
| 82 | Leemreize Gijs | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 | |
| 83 | Lecerf William Junior | Soudal Quick-Step | + 00 | |
| 84 | Tjøtta Martin | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | + 00 | |
| 85 | Mühlberger Gregor | Movistar Team | + 00 | |
| 86 | Bayer Tobias | Alpecin-Deceuninck | + 00 | |
| 87 | Lopez Juan Pedro | Lidl-Trek | + 00 | |
| 88 | Soler Marc | UAE Team Emirates XRG | + 00 | |
| 89 | Romo Javier | Movistar Team | + 00 | |
| 90 | Schmid Mauro | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 | |
| 91 | Huby Antoine | Soudal Quick-Step | + 00 | |
| 92 | Mackellar Alastair | EF Education-EasyPost | + 00 | |
| 93 | Koerdt Bjoern | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 | |
| 94 | Skerl Daniel | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 95 | Bettiol Alberto | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 96 | Clarke Simon | Israel-Premier Tech | + 00 | |
| 97 | Van Der Lee Jardi | EF Education-EasyPost | + 00 | |
| 98 | Ermakov Roman | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 99 | Pacher Quentin | Groupama-FDJ | + 00 | |
| 100 | Godon Dorian | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | + 00 | |
| 101 | Bouchard Geoffrey | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | + 00 | |
| 102 | Edmondson Alex | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 | |
| 103 | Mollema Bauke | Lidl-Trek | + 00 | |
| 104 | Bystrøm Sven Erik | Groupama-FDJ | + 00 | |
| 105 | Hepburn Michael | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 | |
| 106 | Gloag Thomas | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | + 00 | |
| 107 | Schultz Nick | Israel-Premier Tech | + 00 | |
| 108 | Ourselin Paul | Cofidis | + 00 | |
| 109 | Browning Fergus | Australia | + 00 | |
| 110 | Paasschens Mathijs | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 111 | van den Berg Julius | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 | |
| 112 | Plapp Lucas | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 | |
| 113 | Maciejuk Filip | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | + 00 | |
| 114 | Mullen Ryan | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | + 00 | |
| 115 | Maas Jan | Cofidis | + 00 | |
| 116 | Zwiehoff Ben | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | + 00 | |
| 117 | Bleddyn Oliver | Australia | + 00 | |
| 118 | Rouland Louis | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | + 00 | |
| 119 | Johansen Julius | UAE Team Emirates XRG | + 00 | |
| 120 | Herregodts Rune | UAE Team Emirates XRG | + 00 | |
| 121 | van der Hoorn Taco | Intermarché-Wanty | + 00 | |
| 122 | Epis Giosue | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | + 00 | |
| 123 | Serry Pieter | Soudal Quick-Step | + 00 | |
| 124 | Vermote Julien | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | + 00 | |
| 125 | Herrada Jesus | Cofidis | + 00 | |
| 126 | Walsh Liam | Australia | + 02:34 | |
| 127 | Debruyne Ramses | Alpecin-Deceuninck | + 00 | |
| 128 | Eulalio Afonso | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 129 | Schelling Ide | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 130 | Arndt Nikias | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 131 | Knox James | Soudal Quick-Step | + 00 | |
| 132 | Mulubrhan Henok | XDS Astana Team | + 00 | |
| 133 | Stannard Robert | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 | |
| 134 | Thomas Geraint | INEOS Grenadiers | + 03:25 | |
| 135 | Beloki Markel | EF Education-EasyPost | + 00 | |
| 136 | Durbridge Luke | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 | |
| 137 | Paquot Tom | Intermarché-Wanty | + 00 | |
| 138 | van Baarle Dylan | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | + 00 | |
| DNS | Scotson Miles | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | ||
| DNS | Moro Manlio |
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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