Sam Welsford

Sam Welsford
Welsford in 2020
Personal information
Full nameSam Welsford
Born (1996-01-19) 19 January 1996 (age 28)
Perth, Western Australia
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight82 kg (181 lb)
Team information
Current teamRed Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe
Discipline
  • Track
  • Road
RoleRider
Professional teams
2018–2019ACA–Ride Sunshine Coast
2022–2023Team DSM
2024–Bora–Hansgrohe
Major wins
Track
Olympic Games
Team pursuit (2024)
World Championships
Scratch (2019)
Team pursuit (2016, 2017, 2019)
Medal record
Men's track cycling
Representing  Australia
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris Team pursuit
Silver medal – second place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team pursuit
Bronze medal – third place 2020 Tokyo Team pursuit
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 London Team pursuit
Gold medal – first place 2017 Hong Kong Team pursuit
Gold medal – first place 2019 Pruszków Scratch
Gold medal – first place 2019 Pruszków Team pursuit
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2018 Gold Coast Team pursuit
Gold medal – first place 2018 Gold Coast Scratch

Sam Welsford (born 19 January 1996) is an Australian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe.[1][2]

Cycling career

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Welsford's father was a keen cyclist, and Sam began joining him on rides when he was seven. Welsford worked hard at his cycling and won team pursuit junior world titles in 2013 and 2014.[3]

He rode in the men's team pursuit at the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships winning a gold medal.[4][5] Welsford won the 2019 UCI Men's elite Scratch race world championships less than an hour after breaking the Men's team pursuit World Record in a time of 3 minutes 48.012 seconds.[6]

Welsford qualified for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and was part of the Men's team pursuit together with Kelland O'Brien, Leigh Howard and Alexander Porter. They secured a bronze medal after overlapping New Zealand who had crashed. Welsford also competed in the Men's Madison where the team finished fifth with a time of 3:48.448 and therefore did not qualify for the final.[7]

After spending much of his career as a track specialist with occasional forays onto the road, Welsford signed with UCI WorldTeam Team DSM in November 2021, for two years.[8]

Welsford participated in the 2024 Tour Down Under, where he won in three group sprints on the first, third, and fourth stages.

Major results

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Road

[edit]
2011
2nd Time trial, National Novice Championships
2014
1st Stage 1 Goldfields Classic
2016
2nd National Under-23 Criterium Championships
2017
1st Overall Tour of Gippsland
1st Stages 1, 2 & 3
2nd Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic
2018
1st Noosa International Criterium
2nd Oita Ikoinomichi Criterium
3rd National Under-23 Criterium Championships
3rd Overall Tour of the King Valley
1st Stage 2
4th Overall Tour of the Great South Coast
1st Stage 3
2019
1st Wal Smith Memorial - Casterton 50
1st Stage 1 Tour of the Riverland
3rd Overall Tour of the Great South Coast
1st Stages 1 & 3
2020
1st National Criterium Championships
1st Overall Bay Classic Series
1st Stage 1
2022 (1 pro win)
1st Stage 5 Tour of Turkey
3rd Scheldeprijs
4th Bredene Koksijde Classic
2023 (4)
1st Grand Prix Criquielion
Vuelta a San Juan
1st Stages 6 & 7
1st Stage 4 Renewi Tour
2nd Overall ZLM Tour
2nd Scheldeprijs
3rd Bredene Koksijde Classic
3rd Veenendaal–Veenendaal Classic
2024 (4)
Tour Down Under
1st Points classification
1st Stages 1, 3 & 4
1st Stage 1 Tour de Hongrie
7th Scheldeprijs

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

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Grand Tour 2023
A pink jersey Giro d'Italia
A yellow jersey Tour de France 144
A red jersey Vuelta a España
Legend
Did not compete
DNF Did not finish
IP Race in Progress

Track

[edit]
2013
UCI World Junior Championships
1st Team pursuit
1st Omnium
3rd Madison (with Joshua Harrison)
2014
UCI World Junior Championships
1st Team pursuit
2nd Omnium
Oceania Championships
1st Team pursuit
1st Madison (with Scott Law)
National Championships
2nd Team pursuit
2nd Madison (with Matthew Jackson)
3rd Individual pursuit
3rd Scratch
2015
2nd Scratch, Oceania Championships
National Championships
2nd Points race
2nd Scratch
2nd Omnium
2016
1st Team pursuit, UCI World Championships
1st Individual pursuit, National Championships
2nd Team pursuit, Olympic Games
2017
1st Team pursuit, UCI World Championships
Oceania Championships
1st Team pursuit
1st Points race
3rd Omnium
National Championships
1st Madison (with Cameron Meyer)
1st Team pursuit
1st Scratch
2018
Commonwealth Games
1st Scratch
1st Team pursuit
National Championships
1st Individual pursuit
2nd Team sprint
UCI World Cup
1st Omnium, Berlin
1st Team pursuit, Berlin
2019
UCI World Championships
1st Scratch
1st Team pursuit
Oceania Championships
1st Omnium
1st Scratch
National Championships
2nd Madison (with Cameron Scott)
3rd Team pursuit
UCI World Cup
2nd Madison, Hong Kong (with Kelland O'Brien)
3rd Madison, Glasgow (with Leigh Howard)
2nd Six Days of Melbourne (with Cameron Scott)
3rd Six Days of Brisbane (with Cameron Scott)
2020
Oceania Championships
1st Omnium
1st Madison (with Kelland O'Brien)
2021
3rd Team pursuit, Olympic Games
2024
1st Team pursuit, Olympic Games

References

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  1. ^ "Bora–Hansgrohe". UCI.org. Retrieved 6 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Sam Welsford AUS Team RIO 2016". Cycling Australia. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Sam Welsford". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  4. ^ Start list
  5. ^ Final Results
  6. ^ "Welsford wins two golds within 30 minutes at UCI Track Cycling World Championships". www.insidethegames.biz. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
  7. ^ "Leigh HOWARD". Olympics.com. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Sam Welsford signs with Team DSM for two years". Cycling News. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
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