Rohan Dennis wins Tour Down Under as Wouter Wippert takes closing stage

BMC Racing today protected Rohan Dennis’s slender lead in the Santos Tour Down Under, which has finished with the 24-year-old winning the race by just 2 seconds from Team Sky’s Richie Porte. The sixth and final stage in Adelaide was won by Drapac’s Wouter Wippert, with a crash on the final lap taking out a lot of riders who would have hoped to contest the sprint.

Mathematically, Porte could have overhauled Dennis by taking bonus seconds either at the two intermediate sprints or at the end of the stage, but realistically that was never going to happen, and the Tasmanian had to be content with second place. Dennis’s team mate Cadel Evans, riding his final WorldTour race, finished third overall, a further 18 seconds back.

“It's an incredible feeling to win the Santos Tour Down Under,” Dennis reflected. “Doing it with Cadel during his last World Tour race took a lot of pressure off me but I was not comfortable at all in this last stage.

“I was following Richie Porte in the sprints in case he'd go for the (time) bonus but I didn't have to worry because my team rode awesome.

"I couldn't fault them, they sat at the front and made sure I was out of the wind," Dennis said. "Even when I got pushed back someone always dropped back and pulled forward. They have really helped me win this and made it a lot easier."

BMC Racing general manager Jim Ochowicz said:  “For Rohan, it’s the beginning of a career, this is his first big win as a pro, and to have it be a WorldTour event says even more. He went against a real seasoned rider, Richie Porte, to fight the fight, that was a great sign for the future.

“We came here for Cadel, he tried, he got third, but Rohan was just better,” he continued. Cadel is so happy to end his career like this. It’s a great end to a great career.”

Porte, winner of yesterday’s queen stage on Old Willunga Hill, said: “I am happy. I enjoyed it. It was a great week of racing. It’s just incredible to see the growth of racing in Australia.

“It’s a massive confidence boost,” he added. “I won the same stage last year, but this year, I feel I have a lot of motivation back, and I am looking forward to having a big season.”

The day’s winner, Wippert, edged out IAM Cycling’s Heinrich Haussler and Lotto-Soudal’s Boris Vallee who finished second and third, respectively.

Wippert said: “It was a really nervous race. The team rode all day in the front [but] I was a bit tired and I decided to go back but a teammate of mine took me to the front again ahead of the final sprint.

“I saw a crash happening but not much because the race was so fast,” he added. “It's fantastic to win here, being part of an Australian team in Australia for a World Tour race.”