Sarah Gigante has consigned two barren years to history, confirming she is back as a young cycling star with her first Tour Down Under title.

The 23-year-old Melbourne rider secured the overall title with a blistering attack on the Tour’s iconic Willunga Hill climb, south of Adelaide, distancing all her rivals.

Gigante was a joyous, tearful mess at the finish as she hugged her mother and brother.

“It’s pretty tough when you’re 23 and lots of people think you’re washing up,” she told Channel Seven at the finish.

“It was so hard to keep believing in myself, but I did.”

The Tokyo Olympian and three-time Australian champion has battled injury and illness, only racing once last year.

Towards the end of a barren 2023, Gigante knew she was regaining form, but her run of bad luck was not yet done.

A mechanical problem cruelled her chances in the time trial at the Australian road cycling championships earlier this month.

Gigante was then prominent in the nationals road race, proving she would be a key name to watch at the Santos Tour.

In the off-season Gigante moved to the AG Insurance-Soudal team and that decision has immediately proved inspired, with fellow recruit Ally Wollaston winning stage one on Friday.

There is plenty of commentary around Gigante’s bike-handling skills and positioning in the bunch, with rivals trying to unseat her from the peloton on Sunday with echelon riding in the crosswinds along the coast.

But Gigante’s teammates gave her faultless support and brought her to the foot of the race-defining three-kilometre Willunga Climb in the front group.

Gigante attacked with two kilometres left and gradually dropped fellow contenders, including three-time Tour winner Amanda Spratt and overnight leader Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, with a storming ride.

She also won at Willunga when the Tour was relegated to a domestic-only Festival Of Cycling event because of COVID-19.

“It really means everything to me. I was really hoping to come out and show I was back at the nationals, but … the bad luck in the time-trial,” she said.

“My team believed in me, even when I was struggling … and to come back full circle after winning here three years ago.

“Since then so many different things went wrong and now I’m back. I’m so happy.”

Gigante, who trailed overall by 10 seconds going into the third and final stage, won the 93.4-kilometre stage from Adelaide to Willunga and the Tour title by 20 seconds.

Dutch rider Nienke Vinke (DSM-Firmenich) was the surprise stage and Tour runner-up, and another young Australian talent Neve Bradbury (Canyon-SRAM) was at 33 seconds for third.

Spratt (Lidl-Trek) was fourth at 37 seconds, while Denmark’s Uttrup Ludwig blew on the climb and finished ninth at one minute two seconds.

This is the first year that Willunga, long a feature of the men’s Tour, has been used for the women’s international race in and around Adelaide.

-AAP