"I had to stop pedaling at like 20 metres from the line" - Welsford blocked in Down Under sprint whilst Matthew Brennan admits positioning error

The first sprint of the season is always tricky for most men in the peloton, and that's what happened this afternoon in Tanunda. Stage 1 of the Tour Down Under was won by Tobias Lund Andresen, who took advantage of the mistakes that both Matthew Brennan and Sam Welsford made - which they detail in their own words.

Brennan's Visma was not the team that had the responsibility of doing the most work today, however they were a constant presence at the head of the peloton. In the finale it was known that timing was key, but Visma did not manage to succeed in the tense fight for positioning.

“We rode a strong race as a team today," the Briton said in a post-race interview. "We controlled the stage from start to finish and were well positioned at the front in the closing kilometers. Maybe we took the wrong line in the final kilometer, but overall we can be happy with our performance. The feeling is good.”

Brennan is certainly going to have more opportunities to win this week and today showed the pure speed as well, but couldn't translate it into a triumph. “Tomorrow will be a very tough day, but I hope to stay in contention until the finale. There are also a few opportunities later this week, which I’m looking forward to with a lot of confidence.”

INEOS Grenadiers had a day in the spotlight, with Sam Watson wearing the ochre jersey, but also with Welsford being one of the main favourites to take the win. “The boys rode really well today, hats off to my team. Lucas [Hamilton] rode up front all day. It was just us and Visma. So hats off to us for doing that, no one else gave us really much help," Welsford appreciated in a post-race interview.

Much like Visma, INEOS was also towards the front, but lost the fight for positioning. “We kind of got a little bit swamped just on the finish here. We did a really good job taking the front around the last corner. We had like three guys in front of me with over 1 kilometers to go, but we just got a little bit swamped with the tailwind".

He was in the right wheels in the final kilometer, however as Andresen launched his sprint, he simply did not have space to go through the Dane as he was up against the barriers.

"I kind of got stuck in the barriers there, I couldn't really get out, and I was just kicking myself," he explained. A third place was not a satisfying outcome. "I wish I could have found a way around and opened up the sprint because I had to stop pedaling at like 20 metres from the line. So it is what it is, but, yeah, I'm pretty happy with how the boys rode today.”

However in his debut doing a sprint with the British team, he knows there is still work ahead. “That’s the first time we've really come together and done a lead-out like this in a race. So, for us to see their commitment and see how much everyone went for each other there and defended each other in this race was really special".

“'I'm really looking forward to the next sprint opportunity. Stage three will be a little bit more tricky, maybe a little bit more harder sprint day, but I think we showed that we can be fighting up there and doing it together, so more fire for stage three," he concluded.