"My legs were already completely on fire" - Sam Welsford suffers but gets his win at the Tour Down Under
Cycling
Sam Welsford did not have an easy 2024 season, but one thing that did go well was the Tour Down Under where he dominated the sprints. We could be seeing the very same situation developing 12 months later as the Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe sprinter once again won the first stage of the World Tour calendar.
"Bloody hell, I'm getting tired and sick of having to do such a long sprint every time," he joked at the start of a post-race interview. It was a Welsford in a good mood after being able to repeat his achievement of 2024 by winning the opening stage and taking over the ochre jersey.
It was an incredibly fast finale with a few twisting corners and downhill gradients, which made for an extremely tense few minutes and even a crash near the front. "Every corner, riders dived under it and at a certain point we had to let ourselves fall back a bit, to then ride up again. The guys did that really excellently. We were the only team that rode in the front all day and I'm really happy that I can repay the guys with a victory".
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The German team, as expected, managed to deliver Welsford to the sprint in prime position, much to the work of specialist Danny van Poppel. But Welsford feels he set off too early: "Actually, I even think I took over from Danny too early. He actually had more in the tank, but he did such a good job and had been riding in the lead for so long... we got to the front quite early and it was difficult to control from that position".
Still in the sprint he managed to hold off Matthew Walls, whilst VIsma's Matthew Brennan came close in the final meters but not enough to beat the 29-year old.
"I felt the other sprinters coming. When I started, I looked and thought: oh, it's still far," he described. "I eventually saw them coming, but my legs were already completely on fire with fifty meters to go. I thought I had him, but someone else came up. But I was already so cooked, I couldn't even throw my arms in the air".
A thrilling finish in Gumeracha as a familiar face of the race claims yet another success 💪 @sam_welsford
— Santos Tour Down Under 🚴🚴♀️ (@tourdownunder) January 21, 2025
Here are your @garminau race results 👉 https://t.co/22zYKnAW3c @SantosLtd @UCI_cycling @7Sport @RBH_ProCycling #TourDownUnder pic.twitter.com/F2rbMFYkDr
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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