Richie Porte finished a determined third in the Australian National Road Championship, his first race in Team Sky colours.

The Tasmanian chased home former Team Sky rider Simon Gerrans (GreenEDGE), with Matthew Lloyd (Lampre-ISD) in second after the trio had pulled clear of the rest with just over a lap remaining of the 163.2 kilometre contest around Buninyong.

New WorldTour team GreenEDGE had the clear advantage of strength in numbers and they were to the fore throughout the 16 laps race, having sent defending champion Jack Bobridge and Luke Durbridge on the attack right from the off.

However the decisive move came when Gerrans, Lloyd and Porte powered to the front with 18km remaining. They were joined by Team Sky's Chris Sutton along with Bernard Sulzberger but kicked again approaching the final circuit and soon had the podium places between them.

Porte momentarily lost touch and had to go into time trial mode to bridge the gap but on the sprint for the line it was Gerrans, the first Aussie to win stages at all three Grand Tours, who proved quickest as he won by two seconds from Lloyd and Porte.

Sutton kept on for seventh while the other two Team Sky riders in the race - Michael Rogers and Mathew Hayman - also played key roles right up until the final lap as they finished 17th and 18th respectively.

Sutton, Rogers and Hayman are all part of Team Sky's seven-man squad for the season-opening Tour Down Under which takes place in Adelaide later this month.