Porte: "It's not over until the fat lady sings"

Richie Porte remains defiant after fellow Australian cycling stars Rohan Dennis and Cadel Evans gained the upper hand in the Santos Tour Down Under.

Evans was second in a pulsating finish to Thursday's third stage at Paracombe as BMC team-mate Rohan Dennis sprinted past for an outstanding win.

The BMC quinella means Dennis now leads the race, seven seconds ahead of Evans who is in his last WorldTour race before he retires from professional cycling on 1 February.

Porte was sixth on the stage to be fourth overall at 15 seconds.

While the Sky team leader was disappointed, he was far from pessimistic after the stage.

Porte also pointed to BMC being a man down, with young Australian Campbell Flakemore breaking a collarbone after Wednesday's second stage.

The race will now come down to Saturday's Queen stage at Willunga.

Friday's fourth stage from Glenelg to Mt Barker is unlikely to affect the overall standings, with a sprint finish likely.