The Australian cycling baton that Cadel Evans is handing over somehow fell in team-mate Rohan Dennis' lap at the Tour Down Under.
As Evans - the only Australian to win the Tour de France - finished third overall in his last top-level race, Dennis admitted it was still sinking in that he had won the Santos Tour title.
Dutch rider Wouter Wippert, who rides for the Australian pro continental team Drapac, won Sunday's last stage in Adelaide.
Dennis and Evans, who are team-mates at BMC, avoided a crash near the end of the 90km street race to preserve their overall standings.
Dennis finished just two seconds ahead of compatriot Richie Porte (Team Sky), who went so close to snatching the title from Dennis with Saturday's outstanding stage win on Willunga Hill.
Many people hoped Evans could have a fairytale win at the Tour ahead of his cycling retirement on February 1.
Dennis started the six-day Tour third in the team pecking order.
His bigger priority was the hour world record attempt on Switzerland on February 8.
But Dennis' stunning attack on the Paracombe climb to win stage three turned everything on its head.
"It's the first race of the year and puts BMC on top of the world rankings and for myself, hometown, home country," said the 24-year-old, who is now No.1 in the world.
"To take the win is a dream come true.
"It doesn't feel like I have (won) - the pressure hasn't been on me all week and I probably have to thank Cadel for that and obviously the team as well.
"I really did come here and go to the nationals (road race) to support Cadel."
Evans received a massive cheer from the large crowd at the presentation when he walked on stage at the Tour one last time.
"It's (cycling) has given me a lot of hard lessons, a lot of harsh experiences, a few bangs on the road and quite a few days in hospital over the years," Evans said.
"But it's given me so much pleasure ... it's brought me so much more than I had ever hoped.
"Thank you everyone."
His last race will be the inaugural Cadel Evans Great Ocean Rd Race in and around Geelong next Sunday.
While disappointed to just miss out on the Tour title, Porte was also encouraged by his second placing and Willunga stage win.
This, combined with his win in the nationals time trial, is a massive boost to his confidence as he aims for May's Giro d'Italia.
Porte is most likely to take over from Evans as Australian cycling's next Grand Tour contender.
"He (Evans) has left some pretty big boots to fill, so I'm up for the challenge."
Local rider Jack Bobridge capped a big week for composite team UniSA when he won the king of the mountain category.
Bobridge will also make an attempt on the hour record next Saturday in Melbourne.
South Africa's Daryl Impey won the sprint category for top Australian team Orica-GreenEDGE.
And Wippert's stage win is the biggest result yet for Drapac, which aims to join Orica-GreenEDGE as the Australian teams in the WorldTour.
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