{"id":6103,"date":"2024-01-17T11:46:31","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T10:46:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/?p=6103"},"modified":"2024-01-17T11:46:31","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T10:46:31","slug":"sam-welsford-on-winning-stage-1-of-tour-down-under-that-was-crazy-im-at-a-loss-for-words","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/2024\/01\/17\/sam-welsford-on-winning-stage-1-of-tour-down-under-that-was-crazy-im-at-a-loss-for-words\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Welsford on Winning Stage 1 of Tour Down Under: \u201cThat was crazy, I\u2019m at a loss for words\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>In a thrilling start to the Tour Down Under, Bora-Hansgrohe&#8217;s Sam Welsford emerged victorious in Tanunda, marking a successful debut with his new team. Welsford outpaced rivals Phil Bauhaus of Bahrain Victorious and Biniam Girmay of Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty, securing first place in the opening stage.<\/strong><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The team&#8217;s strategy centered on protecting their lead sprinter, Welsford, as they navigated the peloton, setting him up for a final push towards victory. Welsford made his move following teammate Danny Van Poppel, crossing the finish line with a celebratory gesture.<\/p>\n<p>Last year&#8217;s Tanunda victor, Bauhaus, was outmatched in speed this time, finishing second. Meanwhile, Jayco-AlUla&#8217;s Caleb Ewan, initially trailing Welsford, was eventually overtaken by Girmay&#8217;s impressive surge.<\/p>\n<p>With this win, Welsford not only clinched the stage but also leads the general classification, holding a four-second advantage over Bauhaus and a six-second lead over Girmay. In close pursuit is Corbin Strong of Israel-Premier Tech, trailing by seven seconds due to intermediate sprint bonuses.<\/p>\n<p>Reflecting on the race, Welsford expressed his amazement: \u201cThat was crazy, I\u2019m at a loss for words. It was very hairy down the hill, lots of crashes and near misses, but the boys just kept calm, be patient and wow they did an amazing for me today,\u201d acknowledging the challenges and his team&#8217;s support. He added, &#8220;First race with the guys and they backed me one hundred percent. That&#8217;s super special, first one of the year to get a win. I&#8217;m stoked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The descent of Menglers Hill, 13 kilometers from the finish, proved pivotal, with the peloton enduring a frenetic and somewhat chaotic race. Welsford commented on the descent&#8217;s intensity, noting, \u201cIt was pretty fast on the downhill, we were going around those long bends, upwards of 100km an hour. Everyone\u2019s trying to be at the front as well, so then it comes pretty messy but hope everyone&#8217;s alright cos there\u2019s still more, you know, five more days left.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Tour Down Under \u2013 Stage 1<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1. WELSFORD Sam, BORA-hansgrohe, 03:25:56<br \/>\n2. BAUHAUS Phil, Bahrain Victorious, + 00<br \/>\n3. GIRMAY Biniam, Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty, + 00<br \/>\n4. EWAN Caleb, Team Jayco-AlUla, + 00<br \/>\n5. NARVAEZ Jhonnatan, INEOS Grenadiers, + 00<br \/>\n6. KANTER Max, Astana Qazaqstan Team, + 00<br \/>\n7. VAN POPPEL Danny, BORA-hansgrohe, + 00<br \/>\n8. STRONG Corbin, Israel-Premier Tech, + 00<br \/>\n9. MIHKELS Madis, Intermarch\u00e9-Wanty, + 00<br \/>\n10. VACEK Mathias, Lidl-Trek, + 00<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a thrilling start to the Tour Down Under, Bora-Hansgrohe&#8217;s Sam Welsford emerged victorious in Tanunda, marking a successful debut [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":6108,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"global-categories":[],"class_list":["post-6103","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-the-latest"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.3 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Sam Welsford on Winning Stage 1 of Tour Down Under: \u201cThat was crazy, I\u2019m at a loss for words\u201d - \u0160koda We Love Cycling - United Kingdom<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/2024\/01\/17\/sam-welsford-on-winning-stage-1-of-tour-down-under-that-was-crazy-im-at-a-loss-for-words\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sam Welsford on Winning Stage 1 of Tour Down Under: \u201cThat was crazy, I\u2019m at a loss for words\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a thrilling start to the Tour Down Under, Bora-Hansgrohe&#8217;s Sam Welsford emerged victorious in Tanunda, marking a successful debut [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/uk\/2024\/01\/17\/sam-welsford-on-winning-stage-1-of-tour-down-under-that-was-crazy-im-at-a-loss-for-words\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling - 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