The 21-year-old wrote his name into the long history of Australia’s oldest one-day classic and completed a breakout summer of cycling at the 103rd edition of the iconic race.

White entered the event having claimed the under-23 national road race title at Buninyong in January.

The Team BridgeLane rider, who also finished third in the Young Riders and 14th in the overall classification at the Herald Sun Tour, carried his strong form into the gruelling 262km race.

“It’s a perfect way to end the summer of racing,” the Ballarat resident said. 

“I had a few wins over the summer and a few cool experiences in some big races so it’s an awesome way to finish the summer and I’m pretty stoked to see what happens for the rest of the year.”

White, who finished in six hours, 15 minutes and six seconds, said an early 14-man breakaway group was his winning move.

“It was 90km into the race,” he said. “That is the longest I have seen a breakaway take to go and you could tell every single person wanted to be in it and you can see why.

“Once we got into it, it just seemed like the perfect break with every team in it and no one was willing to chase in the peloton and it all worked out well.”