Richie Porte took his first victory in BMC colours on Willunga Hill, but couldn't claw back enough time to Simon Gerrans to affect the overall lead in the standings.
Porte broke clear inside the last kilometre to beat Sergio Henao by six seconds, with Michael Woods a further three seconds back. They were followed by a group of 13, which included race leader Gerrans, who retains his lead to all but secure victory.
As the race began on three circuits of a course between Aldinga Beach and the McLaren Vale vineyards, a group of three riders made a break, with the talented trio of Pim Ligthart (LTS), Lars Boom (AST) and Nelson Oliveira (MOV) being chased by a few other breakaway hopefuls, but only Dimension Data's Reinardt Janse van Rensburg successfully managed to bridge across.
They were allowed to break away by Orica-GreenEDGE, and built up a lead of almost six minutes by the first intermediate sprint, which went uncontested as the break worked together to stay ahead. Pim Ligthart in particular had his eyes on the gap, being less than two minutes down overnight he was the virtual leader from an early point in the stage.
Two more times round the first circuit on the course, with winds on the shore spreading the peloton out and preventing an effective chase, and again Ligthart led the break through the second intermediate sprint, doing a good chunk of the legwork at the front in an effort to maintain the lead.
As the race turned off the flat and towards the first ascent of Willunga Hill, the lead remained, and it was Reinardt Janse van Rensburg who attacked the others in the break, making it up the hill first to claim the mountains classification points, before the quarter regrouped, still two minutes clear with just a 22km loop back to the hill remaining.
The peloton finally began to realise the danger of an upset, and upped the pace on the descent to almost 100km/h. The chase continued around the second of the two circuits that made up today's route, and agonisingly for the break, they were only caught at the race returned to the foot of Willunga Hill, a mere 4km from the finish, and making the second climb all the more difficult to stomach for the four riders.
Team Sky took the reigns at the front as the climb began, Geraint Thomas swallowing what little remained of his GC hopes to work with Peter Kennaugh for the benefit of Sergio Henao. Halfway up, Lucas Hamilton (UNA) attacked, with LottoNL-Jumbo's George Bennett joining him.
That break lasted little more than a hundred metres, as Richie Porte, already on a two-year winning streak on Willunga Hill, surged past both, but unlike the last two stages, this break was timed perfectly. Of the leading group of 16, only the well-protected Sergio Henao and the highly impressive debutant Michael Woods (CPT) were able to go with him.
Under the flamme rouge, the trio had a lead of six seconds over the rest of the bunch, led by Simon Gerrans, desperate to hold on to his hard-fought GC lead. Porte managed to keep his pace up, and as Woods and Henao dropped away, Porte surged on alone to take his third straight win on Willunga Hill.
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Attention now turned to the clock, Henao came through in second, which confirmed him as the King of the Mountains for the Tour Down Under, followed by Woods, six and nine seconds back respectively. With the bonus seconds accounted for, Porte had an extra ten seconds over the chasing group. Ochre jersey holder Gerrans had 36 seconds on Porte overnight, meaning he had to finish within 26 seconds to keep his lead.
Lampre-Merida's Diego Ulissi came home fourth, 17 seconds off the leader, followed closely by Rafael Valls Ferri (LTS), Ruben Fernandez Andujar (MOV) and Domenico Pozzovivo (ALM), who were close to gapping the rest again.
The ever-alert Gerrans recognised the danger and sprinted after them to record the same time, retaining his lead by nine seconds over Porte. With only tomorrow's sprint stage remaining, it would take something truly extraordinary to deny Gerrans a fourth Tour Down Under.
The nine-second time gap to Gerrans may, in a strange way, ultimately be of comfort to Porte, as it means the eight seconds lost in a gap yesterday are ultimately unlikely to have an effect on the overall standings.
Stage winner Richie Porte (BMC):
"To be honest I never expected that one, obviously it didn't go to plan yesterday with the time gap on the line. It's always nice to win in Australia and on top of Willunga for the third time in a row, I'm really happy.
"I'm not going to fight for time bonuses tomorrow, that's not my forté. I'm already happy with how this race went, I wasn't targeting overall."
GC leader Simon Gerrans (OGE):
"The calibre of climber that's in this race, it made that final ascent extra tough.
"This is the toughest stage of the race and where the GC's generally decided, so if I've come out just in front today, hopefully that's enough."
Stage results
1. Richie Porte (BMC) 3:34:16
2. Sergio Henao (SKY) + :06
3. Michael Woods (CPT) + :09
General Classification
1. Simon Gerrans (OGE) 17:16:31
2. Richie Porte (BMC) + :09
3. Sergio Henao (SKY) +:11
4. Jay McCarthy (TNK) + :20
5. Michael Woods (CPT) + :20
6. Ruben Fernandez Andujar (MOV) + :28
7. Domenico Pozzovivo (ALM) + :28
8. Rafael Valls Ferri (LTS) + :36
9. Steve Morabito (FDL) + :49
10. Patrick Bevin (CPT) + :50
King of the Mountains
1. Sergio Henao (SKY) 38
2. Richie Porte (BMC) 28
3. Michael Woods (CPT) 20
Sprint Classification
1. Simon Gerrans (OGE) 51
2. Jay McCarthy (TNK) 46
3. Sergio Henao (SKY) 31
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