Sam Welsford

Born on January 19, 1996 in Subiaco, a suburb of Perth in Western Australia, Sam Welsford began racing as a junior in 2013. His first success came right away on the track as part of the Team Pursuit titles for Australia in the World Championships in 2013 and 2014. 

His sprint talents continued with an elite Team Pursuit world title in 2016 and earned a berth at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, earning a silver medal with teammates Michael Hepburn, Alex Edmondson, Jack Bobridge and Callum Scotson. Two years later alongside Alex Porter, Leigh Howard and Kelland O'Brien, Welsford was part of a gold medal performance at Commonwealth Games that set a new world record, 3:49.804. At Track Worlds the next year, the team broke that mark for the gold, 3:48.012, and Welsford also added a gold medal in the Men's Scratch race. 

His excellence on the track continued at the 202 Worlds with another gold in the Team Pursuit. At the Tokyo Olympic Games, Welsford was part of a bronze medal team effort in the Team Pursuit, and regained the gold in 2024 in Paris.

After riding a few years in the road with Continental or club level teams, Welsford jumped to the WorldTour in 2022 with Team DSM, where he earned a podium at Scheldeprijs and then won his first UCI race that year on a stage at the Presidential Tour of Turkey.

On a second year at DSM, he won back-to-back stages at Vuelta a San Juan and finished second at Scheldeprijs. He earned a berth at his first Tour de France, going 10th on stage 11 into Moulins. He followed his first Grand Tour with a stage win at Renewi Tour.

From the next two seasons he moved to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and made an impact in 2024 with a trio of stage victories at his home stage race, Tour Down Under. He scored nine additional podiums in the season, including a stage win at Tour de Hongrie.

Just before his 29th birthday in 2025, Welsford won three of his first four races, including the national criterium title. He then dominated the opening rounds of the Tour Down Under with sprint victories on stages 1 and 2 and wear the ochre leader's jersey.

Top  results

2025

🥇 National Criterim championship

🥇 Western Australia State Criterium championship

🥇 Villawood Men's Classic

🥇 Two stages, Tour Down Under

2024

🥇 Three stages and points classification, Tour Down Under

🥇 One stage Tour de Hongrie

🥉 One stage, UAE Tour

🥉 National Criterium championships

🥉 One stage CRO Race

2023

🥇 Two stages, Vuelta a San Juan

🥇 One stage Tour de Hongrie

🥇 Grand Prix Criquielion

🥇 One stage Renewi Tour

🥈 Scheldeprijs

🥈 One stage and GC, ZLM Tour

🥉 One stage, UAE Tour

🥉 National Criterium championships

🥉 Bredene Koksijde Classic

🥉 GP Criquielion

🥉 Veenendaal-Veenanndaal Classic

2022

🥇 One stage Tour of Turkey

🥉 Scheldeprijs

🥉 One stage ZLM Tour