Team DSM has several cards to play at upcoming Tour de France. Their seemingly best options would be GC leader Romain Bardet and fast man Sam Welsford. The Australian speedster opened up to In De Leiderstrui about the ambitions he has for his Grand Tour debut.
Naturally, the 27-year old Olympic medallist from track is a bit nervous. "I'm a little nervous. It's pretty special when your grand tour debut takes place at Tour. Fortunately, we emter the race with a good team. I can count on a lot of support. Of course it's a real madhouse there, with all the media attention and everything. So the trick is to keep it all simple," he says with a big smile.
The Australian can count on teammates Nils Eekhoff, Alex Edmondson and John Degenkolb to do their best to deliver their sprinter in best possible position. "I think you really need a good train these days," explains Welsford. "It's becoming too difficult to squeeze through on your own. If you look at today's top sprinters, you can see that they all have a good train. Sprinting is just a pure team sport. If the lead-out manages to drop me off among the first five to ten riders, it should be fine."
Welsford remains modest with his ambitions for the race, although many experts consider him a dark horse for bunch sprints. "Of course it is difficult to draw the line between success and failure. I think for me it's mainly about learning and developing myself. I don't think that a good result necessarily equals success or a successful race. But if I had to answer the question anyway, I would be super happy with a few podiums."
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