Sam Welsford took his first WorldTour podium finish at the UAE Tour on Thursday, despite being passed by Juan Sebastian Morano and Olaf Kooij.

Welsford, a former Australian team pursuit rider who has already won two Vuelta a San Juan victories, showed he has not lost his form by attacking for 90km on the first stage of the UAE Tour, as part of the first big group of the day.

With top sprinters such as Fabio Jacobsen (Soudal-Quick Step), Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe), and Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) in the field, Welsford's success in San Juan in January was even more remarkable.

However, while the UAE Tour has a deeper sprinter field, judging by his performance in Dubai Harbor, the former two-time Olympic track medalist has clearly stepped up to match the challenge.

"It was a very long sprint for me. I got away from Gaviria and followed him all the way to the finish and I was fast.

"In a situation like that, it's milliseconds difference, so I just decided to use his speed and just go.

"It was a little longer than I expected to get to the finish and I could feel Olaf coming at me from the left. I didn't expect Morano to come up that fast." [but it was a good start for the three-day sprint race in the UAE.

Welsford agreed with Cooey's post-stage analysis that the sprint was by no means conventionally "European." The narrow roads and technical approaches around the world are nothing compared to the multi-lane highways in downtown Dubai.

"Those big roads and super high speeds are similar to San Juan," he said, "and the corners with 700 meters to go were a big battle.

Fighting the headwind the whole way, he said, "Everyone was scattered all over the place and it was pretty tough to finish. Everyone was trying to get through at the same time." [The hellishly chaotic nature of this sprint probably explains the absence of many of the top riders at the top of the stage prizes, with Welsford noting, "It was pretty hectic going into the last corner, and it all came down to where you were on the last corner and how fast you went through. It all depended on where you were in the last corner and how fast you went through it.

Furthermore, the lack of tough terrain beforehand on the pan-flat stage was "like a double-edged sword."

"On an easy day, the sprints get super hard."

"It's hard to stay in the lead group; there are about 10 guys crossing, so if you're in fifth place, before you know it you're in last place."

"The sprints are very hard.

"In a finish like this, it's important to just stay in front, because the pace is so fast, especially in that corner, if you are more than 10 people behind, it's impossible to move up because the pace is 65-70 km/h.

"It is very difficult to sprint to the front at that pace. You need big speed and big gears, I was running 56 kilometers and I was almost exhausted. It's very different from Europe, where position and lead-outs are very important.

"Either way, it's my first podium on the World Tour. It's a stepping stone to moving forward.

His long track career in Team Pursuit and Scratch has brought him multiple World Championship titles and Olympic medals.

He added that with a fast finish like Dubai, it is never easy to know exactly where you are when you cross the line because so many riders have options.

"I thought I was in first or second place. I didn't see Morano until I saw the video of the finish.

"But I was pretty happy," Welsford concluded. So I have no regrets and I'm even more motivated for tomorrow."