Sam Welsford solidified his status as the fastest sprinter with his third stage win in four days at the Tour Down Under on Friday.

The 136.2-km flat from Murray Bridge to the historic coastal town of Port Eliot was the last chance for the sprinters in the event.

Welsford's rivals, including Biniam Girmay (Intermarché Wanty), Elia Viviani (Ineos Grenadiers), Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious), and Caleb Yuan (Jayco Alura), were all outclassed.

The dominance of the Australian and how quickly he integrated into the lead-out train of Bora Hansgrohe has been the talk of the race. Welsford is only a few days into his new contract and new campaign, but he is just one win away from four wins in 2023.

This success comes on the heels of two successful years with Team dsm-firmenich PostNL, which took the 28-year-old fast man to the Tour de France for the first time last season on Friday.

"I was thinking so much about the final that I almost forgot it was my birthday.

"The players have really fed off our good form this week and the momentum is unstoppable. [because] when we compete in the UAE Tour and the Giro, we will be up against a lot more competition. So if we go into the big races with good experience, it makes a big difference."

Friday's sprint was less "picture-perfect" than Welsford's previous two races, but the team still managed to survive the turbulent group kick with flying colors.

"The athletes are very good at picking sides and defending. That's one of our strengths," said Welsford. 'We can take a side, take care of the sprinters on that side, keep them out of the wind and make the ride as easy as possible.' The big difference this year is our support in the sprints. It's a big difference."

Bora-Hansgrohe sport director Shane Archibald, a recently retired lead-out specialist, credits Welsford's development last year, especially his Tour de France appearances, for his strong start to 2024.

"There are not many races in modern cycling where you can win multiple stages, even in a sprint. The leadout is super strong and shows that Sam is the fastest man here at the moment," Archibald said.

"I would also say the team helped him. I can't say that mullet is the biggest change because I think he had pretty good support in dsm"

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"I think the biggest thing for Sam is a really strong winter and the Tour de France. The Tour de France has put him in a good position. Obviously he is fast. Having been through the Tour de France, he's getting stronger and stronger.

Until now, media attention on Bora-Hansgrohe has been focused on the climbing roster, which includes Primoz Roglic, Jai Hindley, and Alexandre Vlasov.

But it is hard to overlook the team's sprinting ability, and Archibald is confident that Welsford, who is balancing his WorldTour goals this year with a gold medal in the track events at the Paris Olympics, will be well supported at the Giro d'Italia, where he is scheduled to compete He is confident that he will be well supported at the Giro d'Italia, where he has been selected to compete.

"He will get support. I don't know if there will be two, three, four guys in front of him, but he will definitely have a decent lead group in the Grand Tour," Archibald said.

"You can't deny that he's won three WorldTour races. I would be completely surprised if any sprinter wins more than five World Tour races this year, or if more than three sprinters win more than five races."