ADELAIDE, Australia — Australia's Allan Davis won the Tour Down Under on Sunday, finishing in the main pack in the final stage of the event highlighted by seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong's comeback.

Davis won three of the ProTour race's five previous stages to open a 25-second lead entering the 56-mile final leg. He's the only rider to have contested all 11 editions of the race and finished second place twice before his breakthrough win.

Italy's Francesco Chicchi won the final stage in a sprint finish, but Davis was close enough to retain the overall lead for his first victory. Armstrong was in the lead pack Sunday, and finished 29th overall — 49 seconds behind Davis.

"I've finally done it, I can't believe it," Davis said. "This win is very important to the (Quick Step) team. It's the first ProTour race of the season. With three stages and the overall it has been an unbelievable race."

Australia's Stuart O'Grady was second in the overall standings, 25 seconds behind.

More than 144,000 people turned out to see the stage and were thrilled when Armstrong dashed to the front with one lap on the 2.7-mile street circuit remaining. But he was unable to sustain his most daring attack of the tour.

"I can't lie. I felt pretty good today," Armstrong said. "It was a comfortable circuit, I thought, and I gave it a little go with a couple of laps left, but I needed to be with some more guys. I couldn't stay away from the charging field."

Armstrong was quick to praise Davis, back in top cycling after fighting for 18 months to successfully clear his name in a Spanish anti-doping investigation.

"It was a great victory for Allan, who is obviously a great friend of ours and a former teammate of ours," Armstrong said. "He went through his own troubles and I'm proud of him. I'm happy for him. He was seemingly invincible on (some stages) and controlled the race well, never panicked. He's back."

Armstrong showed impressive power as he first hunted down a four man leading group, hooked onto its last wheel then surged past the breakaway to take the lead.

A huge cheer went up when news that Armstrong was in front was relayed to the crowd, but the 37-year-old American was quickly reclaimed by the peleton.

He said he felt the strongest he had on the six-day tour, his first professional stage race in 3½ years.

"It helps when you have good legs," Armstrong said. "I felt a lot better today, actually felt the best of the entire week, so when you feel good and you have good legs, you have to go for it don't you?"

Armstrong finished among the leading pack on every stage, stretched his legs on breaks on the second and final stages, and found the race rhythm he was looking for ahead of his next challenge, the Tour of California from Feb. 14-22.

"It was a good re-entry into the sport. Hard racing as I've said a lot of times and enthusiastic crowds," he said. "It gives us good momentum for California.

The Texan said his return to cycling and his ultimate goal of July's Tour de France was ahead of schedule.

"(This) is a good indication I've done the right work. I still have to fine tune things, get lighter, still get fitter and work on certain aspects of my conditioning but I'm headed in the right way," Armstrong said.

"I'd say we're on track if not ahead of schedule. Even if it was a normal year, when you're focused on July (and the Tour de France), I wouldn't be riding this well in January."