Scheldeprijs has once again marked out an important step in the development of Sam Welsford’s career, with the Team DSM rider’s runner-up position among a packed bunch of sprinters making it clear that, in just his second year on the road, he is already able to find a place among the fastest of finishers.
The 27-year-old Australian, who has had no shortage of success on the track, stepped up to the podium with Team DSM for the first time at the 2022 Scheldeprijs. It was an edition, however, that was split by crosswinds so the normal bunch sprint that it is known for meant that while it was an impressive result that showed his ability to thrive in tough conditions, it wasn’t one that came from an all out group battle.
This year, however, the race lived up to its reputation as the unofficial World Championships for the sprinters and Welsford made his place as a serious sprint contender clear when he charged through the line behind Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and ahead of Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan).
“It was a pretty hectic final,” Welsford told Wielerflits (opens in new tab) in a post race interview. “There was lots of movement in the bunch and I was lucky to find Jasper’s wheel on the left but also we were very hard on the barriers and I had to pick my time to get through and then almost just didn’t really have a run because I ran out of room.
“Happy with second, but you always want to be on the top step, but happy with how the shape is going at the start of the year.”
In 2022 Welsford made it to the podium twice more after Scheldeprijs, taking a win on stage 5 of the Tour of Turkey and third on stage 5 of the ZLM Tour, but he has already found those steps six times since the start of 2023. That includes his first WorldTour podium on stage 4 of the UAE Tour and wins on stage six and seven of Vuelta a San Juan as well as at the Grand Prix Criquielion.
The rider, who has taken the rainbow stripes on the track on multiple occasions, has made a start on the road that has also shown his abilities go beyond just a fast finish with his presence on the podium at two very different editions of Scheldeprijs a demonstration of this.
“I think my sprint is one of my big strengths but I think I also can handle a harder race,” Welsford told the Dutch website. “I think maybe I would like to develop that as I go on in my career, to do those harder races, Roubaix for example would be a race I would really love to do, but we will…
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