Mistakes aside, Welsford sprints to Tour stage win

Sam Welsford has made it clear he is the top sprinter at the Tour Down Under, winning stage one despite making two mistakes.

First, the Paris Olympics track cycling gold medallist started his sprint finish from too far out at the end of Tuesday's 150.7km stage.

Then as the Australian was crossing the line with his fist raised, British rival Matthew Brennan zoomed up on his left and nearly snatched the win.

But Welsford was too powerful and leads Brennan on the overall standing by four seconds.

It comes after the Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe rider won three stages at last year's Santos Tour.

"I went to stop and salute, but I went pretty long, so I didn't have much legs left," Welsford said of his finish.

"I thought I had it, but he came with such pace ... (I thought) 'maybe I mucked that up', but I was happy to get it."

Welsford praised his lead-out man Danny van Poppel, who ensured the Australian had an ideal launch for the high-speed finish.

"I just need to be a bit more patient and stop going so bloody early, use him a lot longer," Welsford said.

"It will make my life a lot easier, I think."

Welsford was the stand-out favourite for stage one and his cause was helped by a late crash, which crucially cost German rival Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) two teammates.

Newly crowned Australian road champion Luke Durbridge (Jayco AlUla) also came down.

But all the riders finished the stage from suburban Prospect to Gumeracha in the Adelaide Hills and no-one appeared badly hurt.

Welsford said the win did not come easily.

"We had a lot of eyes on us today and our backs up against the wall," he said.

"I'm really happy with the team, really relieved. (There was) a lot of pressure, coming in from last year, so I'm really happy to get the first one on the board."

Welsford is now concentrating on the road after winning gold as a member of the team pursuit squad on the track at the Paris Olympics.

It is his third win already this year, after taking out the criterium at the Australian road championships and then Saturday night's pre-Tour classic street race in Adelaide.

The first stage finish at Gumeracha in the Tour's 25-year history went to script in 30C-plus conditions.

ARA Australian team riders Zac Marriage and Fergus Browning joined Frenchman Bastien Tronchon (Decathlon AG2R) in the early breakaway that gained about five minutes on the peloton.

Tronchon dropped back before 100km to go and the two young Australians survived until 22km to the finish.

Miles Scotson (Arkea B&B Hotels) , the 2017 Australia road champion, joined Italian Manilo Mori (Movistar) in pulling out of the Tour before stage one.

They were hurt in the high-speed crash on the last corner of Saturday's pre-Tour street race that hospitalised a spectator with serious injuries.