Ineos Grenadiers have announced the signing of Australian sprinter Sam Welsford on a two-year contract.<\/p>\n
The 29-year-old, who has been at the Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe<\/a> team for the past two seasons, won the first WorldTour race of this year when he took stage one of the Tour Down Under<\/a>. He went on to add two more in this year’s race, bringing his career total to six in the Australian stage race. He has also won the points classification there for the past two seasons.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n So far he only has one Grand Tour participation \u2013 the Tour de France<\/a> in 2023, where he managed a top-10 finish on stage 11.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m really excited to become a Grenadier,” said Welsford in a statement on the team’s website. “I\u2019ve always admired the team\u2019s professionalism and the way they commit fully to a goal.”<\/p>\n He added: \u201cI feel like this is the exact right environment for me to keep progressing as a sprinter and to chase big results. I\u2019m very hungry to contribute, to learn and to race with the kind of intent that this team is renowned for.\u201d<\/p>\n Welsford will be working alongside former Ineos Grenadiers sprinter and new sports director Elia Viviani<\/a>, the team says. His programme has yet to be announced, but he will presumably revisit the Tour Down Under next month and attempt to add to his tally there.<\/p>\n The team’s new director of racing,<\/a> Geraint Thomas<\/a>, added: \u201cWe haven\u2019t had many sprinters in the team in the past but when we have, they\u2019ve been pretty successful, so hopefully Sam can continue that history.<\/p>\n “Having been given an early insight into what he\u2019s capable of physically, we believe there\u2019s still plenty to unlock with Sam,” he added. “The team has shown how dialled we are in positioning our fast guys for the finish, and we\u2019ll do the same to give him opportunities to win.<\/p>\n Thomas also paid homage to Welsford’s team pursuit <\/a>pedigree, something the Welshman will be able to relate to: \u201cHe\u2019s got a great track pedigree \u2013 Olympic and multiple world champion in the team pursuit \u2013 so the way he\u2019s used to working there will fit right into our team environment as well,” said Thomas. “I\u2019m super excited to see him get stuck in.\u201d<\/p>\n Explore More<\/p>\n
\nGeraint Thomas
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\nIneos Grenadiers
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