Sam Welsford
Welsford in 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Sam Welsford | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 19 January 1996 Perth, Western Australia | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 82 kg (181 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current team | Ineos Grenadiers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline |
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| Role | Rider | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Professional teams | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | ACA–Ride Sunshine Coast | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2023 | Team DSM | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Bora–Hansgrohe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2026– | Ineos Grenadiers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Major wins | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Sam Welsford OAM (born 19 January 1996) is an Australian professional racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam Ineos Grenadiers.[1][2]
Cycling career
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.
Beginning his 2026 season at the Santos Tour Down Under, Welsford won Stage 3, sprinting to victory in Nairne for his seventh-ever TDU stage win and his first with Ineos Grenadiers after being delivered perfectly by his team in a chaotic finale.
Major results
Road
- 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
- 2025 (3)
- 1st National Criterium Championships
- Tour Down Under
- 1st Points classification
- 1st Stages 1, 2 & 6
- 2nd Surf Coast Classic
- 10th Classic Brugge–De Panne
- 2026 (1)
- 1st Stage 3 Tour Down Under
Grand Tour general classification results timeline
| Grand Tour | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Giro d'Italia | — |
| Tour de France | 144 |
| Vuelta a España | — |
| — | Did not compete |
|---|---|
| DNF | Did not finish |
| IP | Race in Progress |
Track
- 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
- ^ "Ineos Grenadiers WorldTeam". ineosgrenadiers.com. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
- ^ "Sam Welsford AUS Team RIO 2016". Cycling Australia. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
- ^ "Sam Welsford". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
- ^ Start list
- ^ Final Results
- ^ "Welsford wins two golds within 30 minutes at UCI Track Cycling World Championships". www.insidethegames.biz. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
- ^ "Leigh HOWARD". Olympics.com. Retrieved 23 December 2021.
- ^ "Sam Welsford signs with Team DSM for two years". Cycling News. 24 November 2021. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
External links
- Sam Welsford at UCI
- Sam Welsford at Cycling Archives
- Sam Welsford at ProCyclingStats
- Sam Welsford at CycleBase
- Sam Welsford at Olympics.com
- Sam Welsford at the Australian Olympic Committee
- Sam Welsford at Olympedia
- Sam Welsford at Commonwealth Games Australia
- Sam Welsford at InterSportStats