Welsford Makes Road Return with Aus U23 Squad

Dual team pursuit world champion and Olympic silver medallist Sam Welsford has made a return to road cycling at the An Post Ras in Ireland with the Australian U23 national team.

Welsford was joined on duty by fellow track world champion Cameron Meyer, as the pair linked up with the national road squad that also features WA talent Michael Storer.

On stage 3, Welsford joined a break-away group on the hunt for a stage win, before eventually dropping off to cross the line a minute down on the stage winner, Matthew Teggart – racing with the An Post Chain Reaction team.

With the four Australian team members out of calculation for a general classification victory, coach James Victor said the team’s attention would now shift towards targeting individual stage wins.

• In other cycling news:

Orica-Scott cyclist Jessica Allen assisted teammate Sarah Roy for her first stage victory of the 2017 season.

Competing at the SwissEver GP Cham Hagedorn, the Australian pro team started the stage with just three riders, but still managed to produce an astute team performance to position Roy in good territory inside the final 10km to launch an assault on victory.

Roy credited Allen and fellow Orica-Scott rider Alex Manly for helping her to the stage win.

“Jess Allen and Alex Manly were pretty amazing today. When the trio gained a big advantage it was basically our responsibility to bring it back and the girls really committed.

“We weren’t sure if we would manage it but we did and they did a great lead-out for me in the finish so it feels so amazing to take the win.”

In another part of Europe, Mountain Bike athlete Reece Tucknott took to action in the World Cup event in the Czech Republic recently, finishing 16th overall in the men’s U23 classification against a high quality field.

Tucknott contested the cross-country circuit known as Nove Mesto na Morave and finished inside the top 20 in a time of 1:19:24hrs. Victory went to Norwegian athlete Petter Fagerhaug.