The news wasn't exactly a shock given Sam Welsford had already been spotted at the Ineos Grenadiers team camp earlier in December, but now the Australian sprinter's place on the team for the next two seasons has been confirmed and the British squad is getting set to revive its 'dialled' lead-out.
While sprinting hasn't always been high on the priority list at the team across its existence, the squad did deliver a reminder that they had what it takes to deliver a fast finisher as recently as this year when they helped revive the winning ways of another Australian sprinter Caleb Ewan, who then signed off from his career mid-season on a strong note.
“We haven’t had many sprinters in the team in the past but when we have, they’ve been pretty successful, so hopefully Sam can continue that history," said Ineos Grenadiers Director of Racing Geraint Thomas.
“Having been given an early insight into what he’s capable of physically, we believe there’s still plenty to unlock with Sam. The team has shown how dialled we are in positioning our fast guys for the finish, and we’ll do the same to give him opportunities to win."
When Ineos brought Ewan on board a big part of his programme to try and get back the winning speed that had taken him to five stage wins at both the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia was track training, a path right up Welsford's alley. After his late signing in a perilously tight market Welsford will work with new sport director and recently-retired sprinter – and multiple track world champion – Elia Viviani to help set in train a successful path at his new team, which will be his third since adding WorldTour racing to his track commitments in 2022.
“He’s got a great track pedigree – Olympic and multiple world champion in the team pursuit – so the way he’s used to working there will fit right into our team environment as well. I’m super excited to see him get stuck in,” said Thomas.
The rider, who was part of Australia's Olympic gold-medal-winning Team Pursuit team in Paris, has won three stages of the Santos Tour Down Under each of the past two years with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. Still the 29-year-old so far hasn't managed to keep the WorldTour wins rolling through the rest of the season but his could be just the trigger he needs to change that.
“I feel like this is the exact right environment for me to keep progressing as a sprinter and to chase big results," said Welsford. "I’m very hungry to contribute, to learn and to race with the kind of intent that this team is renowned for.”
