Ben Swift and Greg Henderson wrapped up the Tour Down Under in perfect style by sealing a remarkable one-two triumph in Adelaide.

The duo were catapulted into contention by a near perfect lead-out display on the final laps of the city centre circuit and romped home to earn a repeat last year's memorable success.

Matt Goss rounded off the podium in third position but that wasn't enough to wrestle the overall victory from Cameron Meyer.

The day had not begun ideally for Team Sky as Simon Gerrans was forced to retire early on but the action was brisk from the off and Michael Matthews moved into contention for the general classification when he pipped Goss on the opening sprint of the day.

Goss failed to secure any bonus seconds at all on the second intermediate sprint after Graeme Brown beat Jos Van Leijin and Allan Davis to the line, which meant HTC-Highroad needed to go all out for the stage win.

The American squad had been covering all the early breaks, and also had to work hard to nullify a late seven-man move which was headed by Stuart O'Grady and Nicki Sorensen.

That ultimately worked to Team Sky's advantage, who gradually moved to the front of the bunch and then peeled off one-by-one in textbook style to gift Swift and Henderson their outstanding victory.

That performance also lifted Swift to third in the overall standings, while Goss's third-placed finish on the day left him two seconds adrift of Meyer in the battle for the ochre jersey. Goss did top the sprint classification however, with Luke Roberts scooping the King of the Mountains crown.

Swift hails dominant display

Immediately after the race, a delighted Swift told Sky Sports: "I was struggling about half way through the stage after my efforts on Willunga Hill yesterday but my team did an absolutely perfect job for me. It was straight out of the book of how to do a lead-out and all I had to do then was finish it off.

"Mathew Hayman had been protecting me the whole day and practically did a lap on the front by himself before we made our move up the outside. I couldn't have done this without the rest of the guys either and those final laps were just unbelievable."

Yates delighted

Back in the team car, Sean Yates couldn't praise his riders enough and felt the outcome was fully deserved after an impressive week in the saddle.

"It was a fantastic job by the boys and Swifty gave it the perfect finishing touch," he told us. "That's two stage wins for him and a third on GC, so we're all delighted for him. Originally we'd only been aiming for one stage win and a podium so we've exceeded expectations and done even better than last year.

"We were up against 10 of the world's top 15 sprinters today and there was a lot at stake with Matthews, Goss and Meyer all in contention for the GC, but this has reiterated the team's reputation as being able to deliver in these types of situations.

"It obviously helped not having to go for the bonus sprints, but the guys worked amazingly towards the end, popped up and delivered. It's fantastic, and no words can praise them enough in my opinion.

"I've been there, done that, and I know how hard it is to deliver. They all had to be there when it counted and not one of them let their team-mates down. That's not to be underestimated, and the performance was even more impressive given the fact we were down to five men without CJ and Simon."

Yates revealed he would be treating the riders back at the team hotel and believes the result will push Swift on to far greater things in the future.

"It's been a pleasure being in charge them this week. We've had a fantastic time and have built up a fantastic camaraderie. I have ordered the champagne in so there will definitely be a celebration tonight. Unfortunately our Australian guys and Greg have to leave early, but the rest of us will certainly enjoy this one in their absence.

"Swifty will be leading those celebrations and the events of this week will give him the confidence to push on now, for sure. Last season was a bit up and down for him but his passion has clearly been reignited over the winter, and the sky's the limit in terms of his ability."

The Team Sky squad are regular readers of the official website throughout the season so feel free to leave them your messages in the comments section below.