South Africa’s Daryl Impey won the UCI season-opening Tour Down Under on the streets of Adelaide on Sunday.

The 33-year-old just had to finish safely to win the overall race, and it was never in doubt on the Adelaide street circuit.

While Impey had won the 2009 Tour of Turkey and the 2014 Tour of Alberta, this was his first win on the World Tour.

‘Coming into the race I didn’t expect to win it but sometimes the stars line up and everything goes well,’ he said. ‘I worked really hard in the off-season so I’m happy to get this win.’

Impey said the final stage – 20 laps of a 4.5km street circuit – had been ‘pretty hectic’.

‘I’ve been in this position before with Simon [Gerrans], trying to protect the jersey for him, but it’s definitely more nerve-wracking when you’ve got the jersey yourself.’

General Classification

1. Daryl Impey (RSA/Mitchelton-SCOTT) 20hr 3min 34sec
2. Richie Porte (AUS/BMC Racing) same time (Impey wins on count back)
3. Tom-Jelte Slagter (NED/Team Dimension Data) +16
4. Diego Ulissi (ITA/UAE Team Emirates) +20
5. Dries Devenyns (BEL/Quick-Step Floors) s.t
6. Egan Bernal (COL/Team Sky) s.t.
7. Gorka Izaguirre (ESP/Bahrain-Merida) s.t.
8. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/Astana) +23
9. Ruben Guerreiro (POR/Trek Segafredo) s.t.
10. Robert Gesink (BEL/Lotto NL-Jumbo) +24