Sam Welsford completes victory at stage one of the Tour Down Under from Prospect to Gumeracha

The start of a new season is always filled with anticipation, no matter the sport. As the 2025 UCI World Tour kicked off with the Tour Down Under east of Adelaide, this feeling of excitement and nervous anticipation spread through the crowds along the route, from Prospect all the way to Gumeracha, marking the official start of this year's competition.

At the finish line in Gumeracha, Australian rider Sam Welsford sprinted across the line first in a fierce group sprint, once again proving the team's trust after winning the pre-race criterium, and earning this year's first ochre leader's jersey. "Sam has had a really good winter," said Welsford's exhausted teammate, Ryan Mullen, in an interview with ABC Sport at the finish line. "He's motivated, he's worked really hard... we're keeping our feet on the ground, he's put in a lot of work, he deserves that win."

Before the race began, the lean and fit riders of the professional teams milled around the picturesque, aptly named city of Prospect's assembly area, in a state between relaxation and concern. Pre-race preparations proceeded methodically, whether it was enjoying coffee, pinning on race numbers, adjusting socks, or simply completing a mental warm-up.

Everyone had different goals on the starting line, both for the week and for the overall 2025 season. Pre-race favorite Welsford (Bora-Hansgrohe) won three stages at last year's Tour Down Under, but his focus was never on road racing, instead seeking a coveted Olympic gold medal in track cycling in Paris. And he has achieved that goal. Now, he has turned his attention to road racing. First stop, a stage win at the Tour Down Under. "There's a lot of pressure on our shoulders, as we're probably one of the strongest sprint teams here," Welsford said in an interview with ABC Sport at the starting area, while wearing an ice vest as temperatures began to climb above 30 degrees. "The pressure is there, I'm used to it now... it gives me extra motivation, and the team has faith in me." This relates to his next goal, which is to secure a contract for the next season, as his two-year contract with Bora-Hansgrohe expires at the end of 2025. "I really want to prove to the team and repay them for letting me do track last year." The first part of his mission has been accomplished. Now, he has a new coach pushing him and making himself indispensable in a team full of talent.

"We had a lot of attention on us today, we were up against it," Welsford said in an interview with the media at the finish line. "No one wanted to help us today, but we expected that, we went out and controlled the breakaway." "Really happy for the team, it's a real relief, we had a lot of pressure last year, so it's good to get the first win." Welsford almost blew his return to professional racing. Sprinting from a long way out, the Australian raised his arms in celebration as second-placed Matthew Brennan was surging past him by half a wheel. "There were people behind me, I was controlling them, I didn't notice on the left, I think I should have gone closer to the left," Welsford said. "I should have realized it was a really fast downhill sprint at the end, they were coming from behind really fast, I thought I'd won, but he came so fast, I was like, oh, maybe I messed it up." "I'm glad to have won it in the end." Now with a new coach, I've been working on increasing my time on the bike and my overall fitness. I have the power from track in my legs, so improving my aerobic capacity is probably my weakness, improving my aerobic capacity allows me to still have a good sprint, still withstand fatigue, so it's about working on getting the engine to handle tougher days, still finishing with a strong sprint.

Luke Plapp looked relaxed at the starting line, with different goals. "Just want to get through the first stage safely," Plapp told ABC Sport after carefully securing his radio communicator to his jersey outside the team car. "Especially as it's a sprint stage. It's not really for me." "Get through safe, kick off the World Tour season, and then look ahead to the rest of the week." Plapp's goal is to win the overall title. With stages three, four, and five approaching, today was just a day to spin the legs and get used to the professional peloton. "I'm sure there will be some nerves," he said. "Hopefully we can get through unscathed, have an easy day riding in the beautiful sunshine, and prepare for later in the week." Unscathed was the plan. But it wasn't to be. Despite keeping a low profile at the back of the peloton, Plapp was involved in a late crash, his teammate Luke Durbridge's new national champion jersey was scuffed. Jai Vine, whose wife Bree was watching from the sidelines with their sleeping baby Harrison, had similar overall goals for the race - and a safe ride on day one. "It's probably more nervous now, having prepared for a week, even the grand tours aren't like this," Vine said. "Looking forward to getting the race underway." "But also really excited to start the season."

Nothing was easy on the first day. With 2386 meters of climbing, a breakaway group immediately saw an opportunity, with three riders breaking away from the start, local rider Zach Maric and his teammate Fergus Browning, and Decathlon AG2R World Team's Bastien Tronchon, who together climbed the spectacular Gorge Road to Kangaroo Creek Reservoir, their gap extending to nearly five minutes. "I train on these roads every day," Maric told ABC Sport at the finish line. "It felt really special to be racing in my hometown and hear people calling my name on the side of the road." The scenery in this part of South Australia is almost poetic, with scorched green grass under swaying eucalyptus leaves, and baked rocks emerging from the Australian clichés. A glimpse of a kangaroo silhouette among the trees completes the dreamlike scene, while wisps of white clouds stretch across the pale blue sky. Frenchman Tronchon soon retreated to the peloton, leaving the two Australians to their doomed adventure alone. The gap grew to five minutes when Bora-Hansgrohe - through Filip Maciejuk's solo effort at the front - waited for support from other teams to begin the real chase, around 60km remaining. The five-minute gap was reduced to under two minutes as the peloton passed through Gumeracha for the second to last time, it was only a matter of time before they were caught.

Climbing the final ascent of Berry Hill with a one-minute lead, former Australian Under-23 road champion Browning secured the King of the Mountain jersey, the 21-year-old returning to domestic Australian racing after the disbandment of Trinity Racing, making him the center of attention. "I put a lot of focus into the Tour Down Under," Browning said at the finish line. "It's obviously really special to be representing the Australian national team, it's probably been the main goal of my training all summer in Australia, so to start the race like this is amazing." He said his "main goal" was to return to Europe, but admitted that everything was "up in the air" at the moment. "It was a bit unlucky last year with Trinity folding," he said. "It's a bit annoying not having a contract over there yet, but I'd really love to go back if everything works out."