Sam Welsford 13th in fast and furious sprint into Bordeaux

A sprint finale as hot and fierce as the sun beating down over the peloton saw Sam Welsford get up for a 13th place finish in Bordeaux after a committed job by the team in the finale.

With two tough mountain stages behind them, the sprinters would have their chance to go for a result once again over the flatter terrain on offer for stage seven. It was a fairly straightforward stage to begin with with a lone breakaway rider going clear, but with around 50 kilometres to go two more riders bridged across and then pushed on. The increase in gap, alongside the slight potential danger of crosswinds, saw a more nervous peloton with the team taking up a good position at the front; to protect GC finisher Romain Bardet and sprint finisher Sam Welsford.

Kevin Vermaerke lent his legs to the chase, with the gap still roughly one minute at around 18 kilometres to go, and the break was eventually caught on the run-in. It was fast amongst the front of the peloton with the “washing machine effect” in full force as riders and teams battle to be at the front. John Degenkolb did a good job to position Welsford near the front, before Eekhoff and Edmondson helped bring him back towards the front once more with around one kilometre to go. Welsford gave it his best but he was bumped into the wind a bit and had to fight back into the wheels spending energy, and combined with a tough couple of days and the searing heat, he couldn’t fully contest for a top result – taking 13th on the day.

Welsford said: “Another sprint day here at the Tour. It was a pretty controlled day to start with the break going early. Things kicked off at about 50 kilometres to go where the teams started fighting for positions. The guys did a really good job with holding the right side and keeping me out of the washing machine; I can’t fault their commitment today. Into the deep final we were present and always moving forward, we did a good job into the last couple of kilometres. Unfortunately, I got a bit bumped out into the wind and had to work pretty hard for the sprint. It was a tough day for the sprint but a pretty positive day for how we worked as a team.”

Team dsm-firmenich coach Matt Winston added: “The first part of the stage was quite steady. It was important in the heat to stay cool and hydrated. We did a good job in the final, we were together on the side. It came to a point where Kevin came to the front to help in the chase to make sure it came down to a sprint. It got a bit messy then but the guys always had that will to find each other and kept coming back to each other. In the last few kilometres we didn’t have all of us together, so we need to keep working on that, but it’s good we had the real intention there to do that. We came together in the end and brought Sam into the sprint, but I think with the heat and long finish straight he was a little bit cooked by the time he came to the line.”