Kennaugh finished the day in seventh place to ensure a Team Sky one-two overall, while on the same day Wout Poels secured overall victory at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana to cap a brilliant week for the British WorldTour team.

Froome has now won his first race of the season in each of the last four seasons and was delighted to see his winter training pay dividends immediately.

“It’s an amazing feeling,” he said. “I put in a lot of hard yards this winter, which obviously hasn’t been easy with a new family starting and everything back home. A massive thank you to my family for giving me the support I need to do this job.

“Also a massive thank you to the team. They gave me the all clear today, second time up Arthurs Seat.

“There was a little bit of an attack and I went for the King of the Mountain points and sat on the Avanti rider who attacked. The guys behind said ‘you’re in a perfect place to win the stage, go for it Froomey’.”

Herald Sun Tour 2016: final general classification

1) Chris Froome (GBR) – Team Sky – 12.53.00hrs
2) Peter Kennaugh (GBR) – Team Sky +29”
3) Damien Howson (AUS) – Orica-GreenEDGE +1.01
4) Jack Bobridge (AUS) – Trek-Segafredo +1.04
5) Jack Haig (AUS) – Orica-GreenEDGE +1.14
6) Jonathan Clarke (AUS) – UnitedHealthCare +1.15
7) Robbie Hucker (AUS) – Avanti-IsoWhey +1.20
8) Chris Hamilton (AUS) – Australia +1.23
9) Anthony Giacoppo (AUS) – Avanti-IsoWhey +1.32
10) Dion Smith (NZL) – ONE Pro Cycling – ST