Richie Porte was left hugely disappointed at the end of Thursday's stage up the Corkscrew climb when he was dropped by Cadel Evans (BMC) and lost all hopes of the overall win. Starting today's queen stage with a mission, he made amends in the most beautiful way to take Team Sky's first win of the season on the top of Willunga Hill and claimed that he was not surprised to have dropped the race leader Evans.

Having finished his national championships road race in 3rd place, Richie Porte had high hopes of overall victory when he arrived in Adelaide for the start of the Tour Down Under. However, those were all dashed on the first key stage of the race when he was unable to keep up with Cadel Evans on the steep Corkscrew climb on Thursday's 3rd stage.

Afterwards, Porte admitted to being disappointed but still hoped that he could make it onto the overall podium. That was his intention at the start of today's queen stage to the top of the Willunga Hill and when he set out he was a man on a mission.

That one may have failed but Porte got a reward for his determination that was maybe even better. Having attacked 2km from the finish on the lower slopes of the Willunga Hill, he rode away with Evans but this time the roles from the Corkscrew were reversed. Evans couldn't match the speed of Porte who rode away to take a beautiful solo win on the most famed climb in his home country.

The result only elevated him into 4th on GC but Porte was clearly delighted with the outcome of the race.

"This result is more than I hoped for," said Porte who was ten seconds in front when he crossed the line. "It was a very stressful day with crosswinds but I had my team doing incredible work for me. Ian Stannard, Bernhard Eisel, Luke Rowe, the Classics’ guys... I just had to sit in their back pocket all day. I panicked a little bit and Stannard said he’d drop me at the right place."

“The guys were absolutely incredible today,” he added. “It was a little bit of a shame on the Corkscrew stage as I was a little bit out of position and lost some time. But I felt great coming into today. The team had a plan and the boys were incredible. Ian Stannard and Geraint Thomas were there to the last minute. They dropped me off right on the front at the start of the climb and victory is credit to all those guys."

Porte may have been dropped by Evans on the Corkscrew but wrote it down to his own mistakes more than to a question of strength.

"I wasn’t exactly surprised to drop Cadel Evans off, I was disappointed the other day after the Corkscrew Climb (Thursday) (because) I started badly positioned," he said. "Not taking anything away from Cadel, I could have played a little bit better. Winning here means everything for me. Sky is such a great team. It’s a great way to repay them for the belief they have in me."

Porte's major goals come later in the season in the Giro d'Italia but he admitted that the win was a special one.

“It’s January and I’m not in top form just yet," he said. "To win in Australia and on this climb is a very special victory.”

"To say cycling is a minority sport in Australia, it's a little bit wrong," he added. "It's absolutely amazing, the crowds out there today. It's great to see Cadel winning, it's probably his farewell. The crowds out here, they cheer for all of us – not just Cadel or Gerro."

Porte is 5 seconds off a place on the overall podium with a flat criterium in Adelaide still to come but with Diego Ulissi, Evans and new leader Simon Gerrans all being faster than him, he admits that a top 3 result is no longer realistic.

"I can't sprint to save myself, I'd just like to stay fourth on GC," he said. "A stage win on Willunga, that's probably more than I thought I could get here."

His teammate Geraint Thomas ended the stage in 10th to move into 9th on GC. Last year he lost the leader's jersey on the Willunga Hill and he was happy to see his teammate make up for last year's disappointments on the same roads.

“We knew coming into today that Richie had a good chance the way he was climbing the Corkscrew,” he told Sky Sports. “We rode for him from the start and we all gave everything for him. It was great to see him pull it off and it definitely makes up for last year when I cracked and lost the jersey here. It’s nice to get that first win for the team.

“We always knew he could [win the stage] but we also knew that Gerro and Cadel were going really well," he added. "We knew it would be tough. But I saw him attack – I was about 50 metres behind and I was already in the red – and I could see him dancing away. You could see that Cadel (Evans) was struggling a little bit. I knew he was in good form. It was great to hear he got the win.

“Obviously we had high ambitions coming into this race. We wanted to win the GC and that hasn’t quite happened but to still win a stage is a good result with one day to go."

Team Sky had helped Orica-GreenEDGE to bring back the early break.

"When the break went away, I spoke with Mathew Hayman (Orica-GreenEDGE), and I said we want to go for the stage win, and you guys want the GC, so we each put a guy on the front to bring the gap down," Thomas said. "It was all about keeping Richie (Porte) out of the wind and out of trouble."

Team Sky are likely to give either Bernhard Eisel or Luke Rowe their chance on tomorrow's final stage which is expected to be decided in a sprint.