Queenslander Allan Davis won the 2009 Tour Down Under after finishing in the peloton during stage six of the race in Adelaide.
Davis, who had won three stages during the week, went into the final day of competition with a 25-second lead and needed only to complete the short city circuit in a reasonable time to take the title.
He achieved that feat comfortably with his unspectacular 32nd placing enough to keep him out of reach of his rivals.
The only challenge to his supremacy came from Australian Wesley Sulzberger (Francaise Des Jeux team) who won the first sprint and picked up time bonuses but could not sustain his cracking pace for the entire 81 kilometres.
Davis completed the Tour in 18 hours 26 minutes and 59 seconds and maintained his weekend advantage to hold out home town hero Stuart O'Grady (Saxo Bank) for the ochre jersey.
Stage Six was won by Italian Francesco Chicchi (Liquigas), while Australians Robbie McEwen (Katusha) and Graeme Brown (Rabobank), who both won stages during the week, made up the minor placings.
Irish rider Nicholas Roche came home in the pack and ended the event in 14th position, 44 seconds behind Davis, with his AG2R La Mondiale team-mate Martin Elmiger finishing in a tie for third 30 seconds adrift of the winner.
Lance Armstrong finished in the middle of the pack but did excite the crowd by bursting free of the peloton and surging up Montefiore Hill on the second to last lap.
He caught the breakaway bunch and momentarily took the lead, but was soon swallowed up by a swarm of fast-finishing rivals.
The American was classified 71st at the same time as Chicchi and finished his professional cycling comeback in 29th place overall, 49secs back from Davis.
Davis said it was an 'unbelievable' feeling as he crossed the line for his first Tour Down Under win in 11 attempts.
'I've never won a stage-race before so I had a lot more nerves than I normally have,' he said.
'It's a team victory, I'm taking all the raps but I wouldn't be here without my team-mates, I can tell you right now.'
The 28-year-old underlined his team was especially important on Stage Three when he was involved in a crash with defending champion Andre Greipel.
'I was way out the back of the race and all my team waited for me. We just kept going and worked our way back to the front of the peloton mid-race and I was lucky enough to pull off a second on that day,' he added.
'It just goes to show the professionalism of this outfit.'
With a victory in sight on Saturday, Davis rescheduled his flights to allow some time for celebration.
'I was meant to fly back this afternoon after the race but I've changed it so I get back to my home town of Bundaberg tomorrow so I can celebrate with the boys,' he revealed.
It took just one 4.5km lap for a breakaway to form in Stage Six. The group of 13 included Sulzberger and UniSA's Jack Bobridge, who was aggressive throughout the Tour.
The pacemakers were caught late in the race and there were a number of aggressors, including Armstrong, who tried to break the race open befor the stage ultimately became a group sprint to the line.
ADELAIDE CITY COUNCIL CIRCUIT 90km, 25 January
(UCI Pro Tour-Tour Down Under)
Leading final positions after stage 6
1 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Liquigas 1hr 42mins, 2 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha at same time, 3 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank at same time, 4 Gregory Henderson (NZl) Team Columbia - High Road at same time, 5 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne at same time, 6 Tom Leezer (Ned) Rabobank at same time, 7 Willem Stroetinga (Ned) Team Milram at same time, 8 Guillaume Blot (Fra) Cofidis at same time, 9 Jacopo Guanieri (Ita) Liquigas at same time, 10 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale at same time, 11 Chris Sutton (Aus) Garmin-Slipstream at same time, 12 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank at same time, 13 Mathieu Drujon (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne at same time, 14 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C at same time, 15 Rony Martias (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom at same time
General classification after stage 6:
1 Allan Davis (Aus) Quick Step 19hrs 26mins 59secs, 2 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank at 0.25, 3 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne at 0.30, 4 Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale at same time, 5 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Francaise Des Jeux at 0.37, 6 Michael Rogers (Aus) Team Columbia - High Road at 0.38, 7 Matthew Wilson (Aus) UniSA at 0.39, 8 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre - N.G.C at 0.40, 9 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Francaise Des Jeux at same time, 10 Mickael Cherel (Fra) Francaise Des Jeux at same time, 11 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Slipstream at same time, 12 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne at same time, 13 George Hincapie (USA) Team Columbia - High Road at same time, 14 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale at 0.44, 15 Mathieu Perget (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne at same time
