Sam Welsford has cemented himself as one of Australia’s brightest young cycling talents and fresh from his silver medal win at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games he will be riding in his first Spirit of Tasmania Tour of Tasmania this week.
The 20 year old Western Australia local rides for JML Racing and while he is a track racing specialist, he is looking forward to taking on the gruelling five-day race across Northern Tasmania.
“I am really looking forward to riding in my first Spirit of Tasmania Tour of Tasmania. It is known for being a really hard tour and I can’t wait to get stuck into it,” Welsford said.
With a string of impressive accolades to his name, including the reigning title as Team Pursuit World Champion, is it easy to see why Welsford has forged a successful career on the track, however his ambitions don’t stop there.
“I really love racing, especially the competitive side and how tactical it can be. I am focusing a lot on track cycling at the moment but I definitely have aspirations of forging a career in road racing down the track,” Welsford said.
“For me the Tour and other National Road Series events are a great stepping stone in developing that side of my riding but right now I am really enjoying doing both road and track, especially when I was heading into the games,” Welsford explained.
On the track Welsford’s pet event is the Team Pursuit – a track event with two teams made up of four riders starting from opposite sides of the track and competing over a distance of four kilometres for the fastest time.
Coming off the back of their World Championship win earlier in the year, the team made up of Michael Hepburn, Jack Bobridge, Alex Edmondson and Welsford went into the Rio Olympics as hot favourites but were marginally beaten in the final by the British Cycling Team.
“The Games was one of my greatest achievements and winning the silver medal with my teammates was unbelievable. I will never forget that race and the whole trip. I loved every minute of it,” Welsford said.
Tour de France winning Australian cyclist, Cadel Evans made his transition from mountain biking to road racing by winning the Tour of Tasmania in the 1999 and Welsford still sees the National Road Series events as a great opportunity to bridge across to a professional road cycling career.
“The level of the NRS events keeps getting higher and higher. You see a lot of people going professional from solid performances at these events, so I definitely see it as a possibility for myself as well,” he said.
With 2016 being the first year representing his team JML Racing, Welsford is looking to produce a strong performance in Tasmania along with his teammates.
“I love the teamwork side of riding these challenging events. Overall the team goal is to get some good results in the stages and hopefully a top ten in the General Classification. My goal is to support the team and focus on an individual performance in Criterium on the final day in Devonport,” he explained.
EVENT DETAILS:
Visit www.touroftasmania.com.au for more information.
Ebony Forster, GTR Events
