Australian Damien Howson claimed the Herald Sun Tour title after an exciting final stage around Kinglake.
Howson, from Adelaide, responded brilliantly to a late attack by Tour de France champion Chris Froome to finish safely in a small pack just behind stage winner Ian Stannard.
And that was enough to give the Orica-Scott rider the overall victory, with Jai Hindley settling for second and Kenny Elissonde in third.
Howson said: “My team were committed to the cause and they gave everything. We had the numbers all day and we were able to control it. It was a really nice circuit but really tough
“To be able to put my hands going over the line wearing the yellow jersey makes me feel really happy.”
Stannard claimed the final stage after being involved in a long breakaway that started with 17 riders, before being whittled down to nine in the closing kilometres. The Team Sky rider made his final attack with 1300m to go and the likes of Taco Van der Hoorn and Cyrus Monk could not respond.
Froome made a late bid to overhaul Howson in the GC standings, but the Australian refused to let the British star deny him the ultimate glory.