Opportunity, adapting and chasing that missing Olympic track gold medal – Sam Welsford

Sam Welsford has been one common thread in Australia’s team pursuit squad through Rio, Tokyo and now at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. However, it's certainly not business as usual for the rider from Subiaco as he once again goes in pursuit of gold.

Plenty has changed in the years since Welsford first lined up with the reigning world champions in 2016 in the Olympic gold medal showdown for the Team Pursuit but the sense of unfinished business remains. 

Australia were beaten by Great Britain as the team took silver in Rio. There was no settling the score at the COVID-19-delayed Tokyo Olympics, either – when Welsford set out with a new group of teammates a broken handlebar in qualifying helped derail their charge, though they still fought back for bronze. It was a medal, but not the colour they had come for. 

After that, Welsford finally answered the call of the road but even with the shift to the WorldTour the Western Australian has not wavered in his pursuit of that missing gold medal.

"People always say, 'Oh, maybe you could have tried to go pro earlier', but everyone has their goals. For me, I was track focussed with the Olympics and chasing that gold medal, which I still am, but obviously with more of a road focus for now," Welsford told Cyclingnews at the start of 2024 as he fit in some track training and racing in Adelaide after a stellar start on the road.

It had once been ever so familiar territory, as home of the Australian track programme, but from 2022 the roads of Europe had been the base for many of Welsford's cycling ambitions. He had adapted his track technique to the fast finishes on the bitumen when starting with Team DSM in 2022 and 2023 then moved on to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe in 2024.

The road, however, has taken a back seat in recent months. The Tour of Slovenia in mid-June was the 28-year-old's most recent race with his trade team.

His focus turned to Paris, which presented a chance for Welsford to resolve that unfinished track business. There was little room for doubt about how determined the men's Australian endurance squad were to deliver given their opening volley at the Olympic Games was qualifying with the fastest time in the men's Team Pursuit on Monday and then on Tuesday in the first round they then went on to break the World Record to qualify for the gold medal showdown.

Track vs road or a perfect pairing

Welsford is now lining up at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines Velodrome with Oliver Bleddyn, Conor Leahy and Tokyo teammate Kelland O'Brien to take Great Britain on for gold in the Team Pursuit once again. While it may be a re-run of the scenario at the Rio Olympics, Welsford has been working hard to flip the script ever since.

After that all important Team Pursuit battle, he'll also be lining up in the Omnium and then combining with O'Brien for the Madison. That means there are three chances for Welsford to add to his silver and bronze medals and three shots at gold, a reward that would certainly justify the effort and important place track has continued to hold even while he has been chasing new goals on the road.

"It's quite a balance to do the track and the road, especially when you're away from the team for so long. Whereas if you're based out of Adelaide, you're kind of in that environment the whole year," he said. 

"But I think it's quite manageable now with how the track is super road-orientated. And seeing that progression with track – road riders coming onto the track and doing really well and the Team Pursuit leaning that way now – so I think it really complements the road side of things."

The 'road engine' however required honing and while there were several tune-ups on the path to Paris there was a concentrated focus through the final months and weeks. That included Welsford and O'Brien lining up together in the Madison at the Belgian Open Track meeting at the end of June. Meanwhile, in July, the Australian squad prepared in Portugal before heading to Paris.

"It helps so for us road guys to come in and do a camp," said Welsford on the run-in to the Games. "It really is important for us to get that strength back on the track – the on-bike strength, the gym strength. I think it really works well now coming in doing a three- or four-week camp here and there to just keep the track skills and the track strength there.

"Then you have a really good mix of strength and road abilities and engine for the hard bunch races."

Those come after the Team Pursuit medals are awarded on Wednesday, August 7, with Australia's gold medal decider on Wednesday in Paris at 18:33 (02:33 AEST on Thursday for those watching on from the eastern states of Australia or 0:33 for those cheering on from Welsford's home city of Perth). The scratch, tempo, elimination and points races of the Omnium then play out on Thursday, August 8 while the Madison is on Saturday, August 10.

Becoming one of best road sprinters in the world

The track tune-up may be the focus now, but the road goals are never far away. A big one this season was expected to be the Giro d'Italia, especially after he made a stunning start to the season at the Tour Down Under. There, he took three superb victories when he first stepped out with his new team.

The wins, however, became harder to come by after that and Welsford was missing from the lineup when the Giro d'Italia squad was announced. He's clearly keen to get another Grand Tour under the belt, having made a debut at the Tour de France last year, but there were some silver linings to be found in not lining up at this one.

"We had a plan to do the Giro this year and it would have been a really nice race but I think the team and I thought the way we were going at that moment, leading in, we needed more time to prepare better and be competitive there," said Welsford.

"The Giro was a really hard race and the sprint field there was top notch so they didn’t want to send me being a little bit underprepared and then paying for that in the future goals, like the Olympics and the other races of the year.

"It would have been good but it made me more hungry now to try and get everything running well for next year, possibly a Grand Tour."

Welsford values not only the opportunity presented by a Grand Tour but also the transformative impact a tough three-week race can have.

"I did the Tour last year and your body changes after doing that race," he said. "Your legs adapt to so much more loading and training fatigue, so being able to complete the Tour last year was really good for my abilities – I think on the road and on the track – so hopefully next year will be a nice opportunity to do one."

He also noted that missing the Giro this year had freed up some more time for him to focus on the track and Paris. Still, once the Games is over the work isn't – it's just the location of the spotlight that shifts.

"I've always had the goal to be one of the best sprinters in the world," Welsford told Cyclingnews. "And I'm still not there yet. I've still got a lot of work to do."

The skills Welsford learnt on the track have accelerated his progress toward that goal of finding a place among the best sprinters but there are some aspects that require a more concentrated road focus.

"I think my sprint is at a good point," said Welsford, when asked what he needed to do to reach the level he aspired to. "I probably put out a lot of power just from my size and having the strength I have. So I think the counter to that is being stronger at the end of these hard races and having a big engine.

"I think that's something I'm still building."

When the Paris Olympic Games are over and the track medals are all awarded, it may well spell the end of one journey for Welsford, but the road ambitions are just as lofty and that is a journey that is only just beginning. 

"The goal is trying to be the best I can in the sprint field and sprint against the best and then beat the best," said Welsford.

Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the 2024 Olympic Games - including breaking news and analysis reported by our journalists on the ground from every event across road, mountain bike, track and BMX racing as it happens and more. Find out more.