Dennis wins stage three of Tour Down Under

Dennis claimed victory on the uphill sprint finish by three seconds ahead of BMC team-mate Cadel Evans, with Giant-Alpecin's Tom Dumoulin coming third on the 143km stage from Norwood to Paracombe.

The stage winner also claimed the lead in the general classification as he powered past the main contenders for the race.

"I was caught further back in the lead in and I just thought, 'ok don't stress, just take little steps towards the front', and don't try to go into the red zone before you actually hit the hill," Dennis said after the stage.

"The plan was for me to actually attack at the bottom and put the guys of Richie and Pozzovivo and a couple other riders under pressure and let Cadel just sit back, but obviously I was still too far back to actually follow that plan, we got the total opposite.

"But, Cadel he's still, in my eyes, a leader and I'm gonna respect that. I'm not sure how the team meeting's gonna go but we're still both protected. There's still Willunga, Mt Barker and the last crit. So there's still solid racing to come."

1. Rohan Dennis (Australia / BMC Racing) 3:35:08"

2. Cadel Evans (Australia / BMC Racing) +3"

3. Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands / Giant)

4. Maxime Bouet (France / Etixx - Quick-Step) +5"

5. Michael Rogers (Australia / Tinkoff - Saxo)

6. Richie Porte (Australia / Team Sky)

7. Jack Haig (Australia / Australia)

8. Ruben Fernandez (Spain / Movistar)

9. Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy / AG2R)

10. Simon Geschke (Germany / Giant) +13"

1. Rohan Dennis (Australia / BMC Racing) 10:17:06"

2. Cadel Evans (Australia / BMC Racing) +7"

3. Tom Dumoulin (Netherlands / Giant) +9"

4. Richie Porte (Australia / Team Sky) +15"

5. Jack Haig (Australia / Australia)

6. Ruben Fernandez (Spain / Movistar)

7. Michael Rogers (Australia / Tinkoff - Saxo)

8. Maxime Bouet (France / Etixx - Quick-Step)

9. Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy / AG2R)

10. Daryl Impey (South Africa / Orica) +22"