TEAM DSM SECURE FIRST SEASON VICTORY AS SAM WELSFORD WINS STAGE 6

Team DSM have taken their first victory of the season today at San Juan as Sam Welsford powered to a phenomenal win on the downhill finish in San Juan for stage six of the race. A breakaway dominated the early parts of the race whilst the team remained quiet in the peloton, looking after the Aussie sprinter ahead of what was expected to be a fast and slightly downhill sprint finish. In the closing metres of the race, Welsford was able to follow the team’s lead out, launching his sprint with 150 metres to go. He unleashed an insane turn of power to take the team’s first victory of 2023.

Speaking after the finish Welsford said: “It was a really hard day out today. It was pretty controlled by the sprint teams, but the run-in was really fast and I think we hit speeds of up to 75 km/h, so it was really fast and the last five kilometers were super tough. The team was amazing today and I couldn’t have done it without the guys – they looked after me the whole day and have done all week. They believed in me, they backed me up and they said today’s sprint suits me, so we went fully in. Into the finale we were super committed so I think we really deserve this!

Team DSM coach Callum Ferguson added: “Today, everyone was really motivated to win. We’ve been riding really well as a group all week, but just missing that last little bit. In today’s meeting, everyone was already super committed and you could really see that drive in everyone’s eyes. The team rode perfectly today, we couldn’t have asked for anything more, and for sure we will have a celebration tonight.”