Brilliant lead-out sees Team dsm-firmenich win with Sam Welsford at Renewi Tour

Biding their time before taking responsibility in the finale, Team dsm-firmenich produced a brilliant lead-out and took a great sprint win with Sam Welsford into the town of Peer.

An air of nervousness was over the peloton at the Renewi Tour this afternoon but the potential crosswind threat never prevailed. It did see the early break caught with 60 kilometres to go, as Team dsm-firmenich navigated the local circuit well, looking out for each other and bringing finisher Welsford into the finale in the best place possible. On the last lap, everyone on the team executed their job perfectly, ensuring the team avoided any danger on the narrow roads before stringing things out. The lead-out work saw Welsford positioned in the first three wheels in sight of the line, before the Australian kicked powerfully and lunged to the line; taking a superb win with a bike throw.

A delighted Welsford said: “It was very tight at the line, I didn’t know who got it. It was a long sprint, bit of uphill and headwind all the way to the line. I think everyone had the idea to try and go early and surprise Jasper. The local lap was very narrow and everyone knew it was going to be a big fight. You could see the nerves and the tension rising as the laps went on, but luckily enough the boys looked after me so well today. Full credit to them, they looked after me and kept me at the front in the narrow section, then delivered me in a great position with the lead-out. It’s been a good year so far with the team and I’m happy to take my first WorldTour win. I had a tough period at the Tour, it was a big step up but we learnt a lot and that’s helped here. I’m keen to get stuck into the next opportunities and do my best for the team.”

Team dsm-firmenich coach Matt Winston added: “We’ve had some honest discussions here and we’ve done a few sprints where we’ve looked to improve on. Today I would say the guys have done a fantastic job. They took responsibility, looked after Sam, brought him as fresh as possible into the final and he finished off the job in a really nice way. I think we can be very happy with that.”