Results Tour Down Under 2026 | Sam Welsford takes second INEOS Grenadiers win of the year on stage 3
Cycling
Sam Welsford had his final opportunity to win today at the Tour Down Under but he delivered. INEOS Grenadiers timed their leadout to perfection in Nairne and managed to deliver the Australian to a stage win in the final bunch sprint.
The breakaway on stage 3 was formed by Enzo Paleni of Groupama - FDJ, Baptiste Veistroffer of Lotto-intermarché and KOM jersey wearer Martin Urianstad, who took full advantage of the freedom he got to obtain another 15 points which will significantly improve his chances of scuring the classification later on in the week.
In the most post, it was a calm stage ridden at a modest pace, but this changed with 40 kilometers to go as in the peloton Team Jayco AlUla launched an attack in a small hilltop and then a few other moves came in the peloton, including one from Santiago Buitrago which stretched the peloton and saw Jay Vine also responding. It calmed after a few kilometers as Visma and INEOS controlled the attacks and paced in the peloton.
However at that time, the trio up front began to push the pace, growing the gap from around 30 seconds to 1:20 minutes actually in the following kilometers. Urianstad fell behind to rest for the next stages, and Veistroffer was dropped, although with 7 kilometers to go he joined forces with Paleni once again - and with 4 kilometers to go they still had 40 seconds of lead. Paleni went solo again with 3.4 kilometers to go.
The Groupama rider was only caught inside the final kilometer, where the short leadouts due to the tough stage led to a premature launch by Decathlon this time around. From behind, Ben Swift came through with Welsford in the wheel, who then capitalized on the opportunity and took the stage win. Tobias Lund Andresen and Lewis Bower completed the podium, with Matthew Brennan being swarmed in the finale.
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