'I was completely on the limit' - Welsford delivers early statement for INEOS

“That was unbelievably hard,” Welsford said after the finish. “We were in a lot of trouble at the back at one point and on the last climb I was absolutely on my limit. I just had guys around me telling me to be patient, that we would get there. That belief meant everything.”

For Welsford, the win carried extra weight. After a difficult season last year, the move to a new team came with its own pressure, especially after his entire spell at Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe where across two seasons he managed just eight wins in total, six of them coming at the Tour Down Under.

“To win on a day that did not really suit me makes it even more special,” he said. “After such a tough year, to have the team believe in me like this and to repay that trust straight away is massive. It gives you confidence and those little brownie points that you build on through the season.”

Looking ahead, Welsford framed the victory as more than just another sprint success, seeing it instead as a foundation for what comes next.

“I really wanted to start the year well with a new team,” he added. “They see what I can do, and I think I had maybe lost that belief in myself a little bit. To get it back like this and to show what we can do together as a team is really special. I am honestly over the moon.”

With the climbing heavy stages 4 and 5 still to come, this was likely Welsford’s last realistic shot to add to his tally of seven Tour Down Under stage wins. After the Tour Down Under, he will continue his Australian block at the Surf Coast Classic and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race.