Australian domestic cyclist, Nathan Haas (Genesys Wealth Advisers), has claimed overall victory in the 59th Jayco Herald Sun Tour after finishing the final stage safely within the group. The 22-year-old Queenslander, who has only ever raced locally, fought off hardened grand tour riders and stage winners, national champions and Olympic medallists to achieve his greatest moment in cycling to date.

German sprint sensation Marcel Kittel (Skil-Shimano) also capped off a magnificent season by claiming his second stage victory of the race, and 17th win of the season. The 23-year-old neo-pro's straight line speed was again evident after starting his sprint from a long way back and chasing down his challengers. Anthony Giacoppo (Genesys Wealth Advisers) and Belgium's Jens Debusschere (Omega Pharma-Lotto) finished second and third respectively.

The stage, contested on a criterium circuit centred around Melbourne's famous Lygon street, failed to throw up any surprises. When Jack Bobridge (Garmin-Cervelo), in second place overall and within 10 seconds of Haas, conceded defeat by not contesting the intermediate sprints with their resulting time bonuses, interest turned to the battle for third place overall.

South African Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (MTN-Qhubeka) threw down a serious challenge to Denmark's Jonas Aen Jorgensen (Saxo Bank-SunGard) for the last spot on the podium, out sprinting the Dane at both intermediate sprints. Unfortunately for Van Rensburg, he fell agonisingly short, with only one second separating the duo at the completion of the stage.

But the day belonged to Haas, a young man who presents just as well off the bike as on it. While fully appreciating the prestige associated with winning Australia's second most important bike race, he remains ever humble.

"I don't see myself as a spectacular rider," he said after the race, "but I am part of a spectacular team."

If spectacular can be measured in terms of success then Genesys Wealth Advisers have certainly been that, dominating the domestic road season for the past two seasons with Haas and team mates Steele Von Hoff and Patrick Shaw leaving little in the way of results for the other teams.

Both Haas and Von Hoff have dreams of competing in Europe and this race has done little to harm their chances of achieving that goal. During an interview from the podium, Haas, in his understated fashion, talked off his dream to one day find his way onto the GreenEdge roster.

With GreenEdge mover and shaker Gerry Ryan standing nearby, one gets the impression that Haas's dream may come true, sooner rather than later.

For Haas, the 2011 Jayco Herald Sun Tour could not have gone more perfectly. As well claiming the yellow leader's jersey, he also topped the points and young rider classifications, while his team, a squad of domestic riders with big determination and even bigger dreams, held off the powerful WorldTour and pro-continental squads to be rated No.1 in the team's classification.

Only Cameron Peterson (V Australia) spoiled the party, walking away with the King of the Mountain prize.