Irish cyclist Sam Bennett has denied Caleb Ewan the exclamation mark to his outstanding January, winning the inaugural Race Melbourne.
Bennett unleashed the sort of withering sprint that had defined Ewan's cycling form this month to take out Thursday's 116.6km race on the Albert Park F1 circuit.
After crashing on January 1, Ewan had been unstoppable with seven wins and had wanted one last win before heading overseas.
Last week, the 22-year-old sprint ace won four stages at the Tour Down Under.
But Bennett was also impressive in Adelaide as he built his form steadily.
The Bora-Hansgrohe rider struck for his first win of the year and Ewan said the cards did not fall his way.
"The luck was always going to run out at some stage and it happened today," Ewan said.
"If I got out at the end, I would have had a good run at the finish, but I was just boxed in.
"It would have been nice to finish off on a high, but I don't know - I can't be disappointed at all with how the summer has gone.
"I'm back to Europe tonight and I'm going to be pretty happy with how it all went."
As Bennett built his form in Adelaide, star teammate Peter Sagan led him out at sprint finishes in a major show of faith.
It meant Bennett started Thursday's race with growing confidence.
It was the first race of the season for three-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome, who delighted the fans when he was part of a three-rider attack near the finish.
But the race was always going to end in a bunch sprint and Bennett was ready.
"We were pretty happy with last week and we came in here a little bit relaxed," Bennett said of his team.
"Obviously, we wanted to win and it all just clicked today. We had a little bit of luck on our side.
"On Caleb's side, he was just a little bit unlucky - he's incredibly fast and I don't know if I would have won today if he was on top form.
"It really kick-starts the engine for the season."
Earlier on Thursday, Dutch sprinter Kirsten Wild won the women's race.
Nearly all Saturday's field will compete in the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Rd race, with the women competing on Saturday and the men's event on Sunday.
