Rohan Dennis of the BMC Racing Team gutted out a runner-up finish on Old Willunga Hill Saturday to keep the overall lead of the Santos Tour Down Under by two seconds over stage winner Richie Porte (Team Sky).

With only Sunday's 20-lap, 90-kilometer circuit race through the streets of Adelaide to go, Dennis is on the verge of scoring his first overall victory in a WorldTour race while teammate Cadel Evans sits in third after finishing fourth on the day.

"I am so, so happy," Dennis said after donning the race leader's ochre jersey in front of a sun-baked crowd. "I really could not have done it without the team. I know it is cliché, but they really were amazing. Every single time there was a stressful situation, they were there to surround and protect me and make my job as easy as possible.  It was a huge effort by them."

After teammates Silvan Dillier, Michael Schär and Danilo Wyss helped with the pacemaking to bring back the last rider from the day's breakaway, Peter Stetina and Evans went to work. The three BMC Racing Team riders combined efforts with three Astana Pro Team riders and two from FDJ to push the pace. The result was a nearly 10-second advantage that forced a furious pursuit before the group of eight was caught with 4.5 km left in the 151.5-km race.

“We were attentive, because anything can happen, as we saw and we didn't miss anything all day. We were up there with Peter, Rohan and myself and it was great," Evans said. "But of course that left us a little bit more fatigued in the finish, which may have cost me in the last few hundred meters. But if I am behind, they are going to ride like crazy in front. So we had to be there being first and second on the general classification. Sometimes defending can be a little bit harder."

“In 2012 I jumped off the front with three others and it was a bit of a mistake and in the end I paid the price at about 1.5km to go,” Dennis said. “So I had that in the back of mind [today]. I kept looking back and looking back to see where [the peloton was].

“‘Those guys back there, especially Richie, will be sitting sweet, not pulling, and they’re going probably going to catch us at the bottom of the climb. If I’m doing more work now, what’s the point?'”

Porte, who won this same stage a year ago, made the first of several attacks with 1.2 km left. And like last year, Evans was first to follow. But the past Tour de France winner and world road champion could not keep pace, leaving Dennis to take up the chase.

"When Cadel flicked his elbow, I thought there is no time to hesitate, just go and hope for the best for him," Dennis said. "I looked back and saw him and [Tom] Dumoulin getting dropped and I thought, it's just Richie and I now. I knew all I had to do was hold his wheel and I'd be right.

"I actually felt pretty comfortable when he first went but he just kept kicking and kicking and then he kicked again. I think it was with 350-400 metres to go I was like 'that's enough. You can keep going mate.' I actually thought if I keep going like this I actually will drop dead but it's all good.

“Nobody could talk, there were no words of wisdom, it was just stay at the front, stay out of the wind and just follow. But Richie sort of went – in hindsight – probably a little bit too late, because really he had better legs than me. I will have to thank him for that.

"To be honest I thought 'shit, I've lost it' by a few seconds. I was looking at the timer and it didn't look like he [Porte] was that far ahead but I was told probably two or three minutes alter that that I kept the lead by two seconds. It was a huge relief.

"I went from being somewhat depressed to overwhelmed within point one of a second. I was disappointed at first thinking that I did lose it then I was overwhelmed and looking for my teammates. Obviously they had done a lot of work well before and were still trying to finish."

Porte crossed the finish nine seconds ahead of Dennis. Ruben Fernandez (Movistar Team) finished third – seven seconds later – with Evans arriving in the same time. In the overall standings, Evans is 20 seconds off the lead, with fourth-placed Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant-Alpecin) a further two seconds back.

Evans, runner-up at this race a year ago and set to retire after competing in his own race on Feb. 1, said he was glad he could help Dennis hold onto the lead gained Thursday after a solo victory on Stage 3.

"Obviously he was riding a little bit better than me and the results proved that," Evans said. "I would rather walk away with a high place on the classification. I wanted to come here and enjoy my time and do the best that I can. I really got everything out of myself this week. I don't think we made any mistakes. We certainly are in a better position that we hoped to be.

“I lacked a little bit in the last 300 metres and it was close for Rohan in the end. I'm glad I put him in position when I did, because he was riding a little bit better than me today.”

"There has been no difficulty, no anger, and no bad feelings at all," Dennis said. "Cadel has been very happy with how I have been riding. I think the way he is looking at it is that it's his last race and whether it's himself for me winning, it doesn't matter as its still BMC which is good for the team.

"At 37, to get third at a WorldTour race of this calibre is a huge effort and shows his talent and why he is the best cyclist Australia has ever produced. Hats off to him for getting third, as of now, which is an impressive ride."