Tour Down Under | Sam Welsford crashes and gets dropped, but saves the day and wins stage 2 into Tanunda
Cycling
Sam Welsford had everything happen to him today. The race leader crashed, got dropped, but in the end he resisted the adversities and sprinted to victory at stage 2 of the Tour Down Under.
Early in the day the ochre jersey had some action, but one he surely hoped not to have as he hit the deck and did most of the stage in some ripped shorts. Patrick Konrad and Georg Zimmermann were in the early day's break alongside Fergus Browning, in order to collect important bonus seconds, which they've done successfully.
After collecting time in the two intermediate sprints, the duo stopped pacing, and with 46 kilometers to go the riders were caught. There was a positioning battle into Menglers Hill which would finish with around 20 kilometers to go, and the climb wasn't taken lightly. INEOS Grenadiers first took up the pace and then a series of attacks from riders such as Chris Harper, Juan Pedro López and Javier Romo stretched things out at the front.
There wasn't too much damage in the peloton, but stage 1 winner Welsford did get dropped. However, with team support, he returned to the peloton a few kilometers later, as the peloton began preparing for the bunch sprint. And just as happened the previous days, Red Bull - BORA - hangrohe did a textbook leadout, Danny van Poppel led out Welsford who then took a convincing win. Andresen and Bauhaus were blocked by van Poppel and lost speed, it was Arne Marit and Bryan Coquard who completed the podium.
Read also
| 1 | Welsford Sam | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | 03:01:22 |
| 2 | Marit Arne | Intermarché-Wanty | + 00 |
| 3 | Coquard Bryan | Cofidis | + 00 |
| 4 | Teutenberg Tim Torn | Lidl-Trek | + 00 |
| 5 | Lund Andresen Tobias | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 |
| 6 | Uhlig Henri | Alpecin-Deceuninck | + 00 |
| 7 | Watson Sam | INEOS Grenadiers | + 00 |
| 8 | van Poppel Danny | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | + 00 |
| 9 | Strong Corbin | Israel-Premier Tech | + 00 |
| 10 | Renard Alexis | Cofidis | + 00 |
| 11 | Walls Matthew | Groupama-FDJ | + 00 |
| 12 | Bauhaus Phil | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 |
| 13 | Raccagni Noviero Andrea | Soudal Quick-Step | + 00 |
| 14 | Tesfazion Natnael | Movistar Team | + 00 |
| 15 | Stewart Campbell | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 |
| 16 | Boven Lars | Alpecin-Deceuninck | + 00 |
| 17 | Canal Carlos | Movistar Team | + 00 |
| 18 | Tronchon Bastien | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | + 00 |
| 19 | Labrosse Jordan | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | + 00 |
| 20 | Askey Lewis | Groupama-FDJ | + 00 |
| 21 | Porter Rudy | Australia | + 00 |
| 22 | Williams Stephen | Israel-Premier Tech | + 00 |
| 23 | Brennan Matthew | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | + 00 |
| 24 | Lapeira Paul | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | + 00 |
| 25 | Grondin Donavan | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | + 00 |
| 26 | Withen Philipsen Albert | Lidl-Trek | + 00 |
| 27 | Oliveira Rui | UAE Team Emirates XRG | + 00 |
| 28 | Mosca Jacopo | Lidl-Trek | + 00 |
| 29 | Sheffield Magnus | INEOS Grenadiers | + 00 |
| 30 | Bleddyn Oliver | Australia | + 00 |
| 31 | Nerurkar Lukas | EF Education-EasyPost | + 00 |
| 32 | Verre Alessandro | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | + 00 |
| 33 | Onley Oscar | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 |
| 34 | Vendrame Andrea | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | + 00 |
| 35 | Stannard Robert | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 |
| 36 | Kwiatkowski Michal | INEOS Grenadiers | + 00 |
| 37 | Chaves Esteban | EF Education-EasyPost | + 00 |
| 38 | Mahoudo Nolann | Cofidis | + 00 |
| 39 | Glivar Gal | Alpecin-Deceuninck | + 00 |
| 40 | Godon Dorian | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | + 00 |
| 41 | Côté Pier-André | Israel-Premier Tech | + 00 |
| 42 | Swift Ben | INEOS Grenadiers | + 00 |
| 43 | Pescador Diego | Movistar Team | + 00 |
| 44 | Norsgaard Mathias Sunekær | Movistar Team | + 00 |
| 45 | Fisher-Black Finn | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | + 00 |
| 46 | Rochas Rémy | Groupama-FDJ | + 00 |
| 47 | Harper Chris | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 |
| 48 | Pithie Laurence | Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe | + 00 |
| 49 | Vine Jay | UAE Team Emirates XRG | + 00 |
| 50 | Torres Pablo | UAE Team Emirates XRG | + 00 |
| 51 | Woods Michael | Israel-Premier Tech | + 00 |
| 52 | Todome Yuhi | EF Education-EasyPost | + 00 |
| 53 | Leemreize Gijs | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 |
| 54 | Narvaez Jhonatan | UAE Team Emirates XRG | + 00 |
| 55 | Browning Fergus | Australia | + 00 |
| 56 | Koerdt Bjoern | Team Picnic PostNL | + 00 |
| 57 | van Belle Loe | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | + 00 |
| 58 | Bayer Tobias | Alpecin-Deceuninck | + 00 |
| 59 | Higuita Sergio | XDS Astana Team | + 00 |
| 60 | Graat Tijmen | Team Visma | Lease a Bike | + 00 |
| 61 | Serry Pieter | Soudal Quick-Step | + 00 |
| 62 | Howson Damien | Australia | + 00 |
| 63 | Lecerf William Junior | Soudal Quick-Step | + 00 |
| 64 | Schmid Mauro | Team Jayco-AlUla | + 00 |
| 65 | Huby Antoine | Soudal Quick-Step | + 00 |
| 66 | Lopez Juan Pedro | Lidl-Trek | + 00 |
| 67 | Konrad Patrick | Lidl-Trek | + 00 |
| 68 | Tjøtta Martin | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | + 00 |
| 69 | Mackellar Alastair | EF Education-EasyPost | + 00 |
| 70 | Rodriguez Cristian | ARKEA-B&B HOTELS | + 00 |
| 71 | Pedersen Casper | Soudal Quick-Step | + 00 |
| 72 | Beloki Markel | EF Education-EasyPost | + 00 |
| 73 | Bennett George | Israel-Premier Tech | + 00 |
| 74 | Bagioli Andrea | Lidl-Trek | + 00 |
| 76 | Busatto Francesco | Intermarché-Wanty | + 00 |
| 77 | Marriage Zac | Australia | + 00 |
| 78 | Ermakov Roman | Bahrain Victorious | + 00 |
| 79 | Bystrøm Sven Erik | Groupama-FDJ | + 00 |
| 80 | Zimmermann Georg | Intermarché-Wanty | + 00 |
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.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment