Simon Yates ended the Tour Down Under in the best way possible, defeating Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) on the final climb of Mount Lofty.

Jayco Aroura, along with Michael Matthews and Simon Yates, had been in contention for the overall win, but after Matthews collided with the peloton on the second stage and lost time due to mechanical problems, it became impossible to beat Vine and his UAE Team Emirates team.

Yates secured second place overall, 11 seconds behind Vine, with Pero Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious) in third, 27 seconds behind.

Jayco Alura also finished the race in top form, taking the blue points jersey thanks to Matthews and a stage win.

"We came to the Tour Down Under with ambition. We are the only Aussie team. We really put a lot into it. We missed out on the overall win, but I'm really happy with the stage win," Yates said.

"I think this is my best. The only thing I would change is the time trial in the rain in the prologue. I did my best there and tried to take the race as it was."

Yates praised Byrne and his teammates for riding hard all week, especially Matthews, who was disappointed to lose his chance at the overall.

"He's a great rider and I think the local crowd is happy for the Aussie to win. He's a great rider and I think the local crowd will be happy to see an Aussie win. [It wasn't just me, but he did the intermediate sprints and all the sprints before Bling had his misfortune.

"We put a lot into this race and sacrificed a lot over the winter. It's not a vacation for us. A lot of riders are just starting their season, but we came here with everything we had."

Yates and Jayco Arulla promised to take on UAE Team Emirates in the final stage, and they did. They knew that the early climb up Mount Lofty would not split the race, so they focused on making a final attack on the climb to the line.

With less than 1km to go, Yates surged up and was joined by Ben O'Connor (AG2R-Citroen) and Wein as Bilbao stalled.

Yates pushed on to the finish, leaving himself enough time to win the sprint.

"It was my last chance today and I took it," Yates explained.

"I was expecting an aggressive race and that's what happened. We didn't have to do too much because the other teams wanted to race hard. We just sat back and focused on the finale."

"UAE Team Emirates was a strong team. I didn't want to risk losing second place."

"Then on the last climb I just tried to go as fast as possible. After a big effort to close the gap, I wasn't sure about the sprint, but I managed to do it."