Team Sky's Ben Swift wins stage 6 of the Tour Down Under 2011; Lance Armstrong finished his last race outside the U.S. in 65th place out of 129 riders in the 2011 Tour Down Under, refusing to speak to reporters afterward. Team Garmin-Cervelo's Cameron Meyer of Australia beat countryman Matthew Goss (Team HTC-HighRoad) by two seconds to win the Down Under Tour overall.

Lance Armstrong finished his last race outside the United States in 65th place out of 129 riders in the Tour Down Under, refusing to speak to reporters afterward on Sunday as he did not want to discuss the latest doping allegations.

Cameron Meyer of Australia won the race on general classification by two seconds from countryman Matthew Goss while Britain's Ben Swift was third overall after winning the final stage. Meyer rides for Castelli-sponsored U.S. Team Garmin-Cervelo and Goss for U.S.-based Team HTC-Highroad.

Armstrong finished 103rd in the 91-kilometer (56-mile) sixth stage around the streets of Adelaide and ended his farewell race 6 minutes, 42 seconds behind the winner.

An Armstrong associate passed a message to the Associated Press during Sunday's final stage that Armstrong would not speak to reporters because he felt some had pressed him too strongly on new drug allegations reported this week by Sports Illustrated.

Armstrong had consistently refused to comment on those allegations though he Tweeted on Friday that he looked forward to being vindicated by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

He brushed past reporters waiting for him to leave the victory podium on which he had received a presentation from the Premier of South Australia, Mike Rann, recognizing his participation in the Tour Down Under over the past three years during which was largely responsible for boosting the race's domestic and international profile.

Armstrong graciously received a gift of a pair of locally made hiking boots, joked with the premier and profusely thanked fans for their support of him and the race he chose it for his comeback to road cycling in 2009.

"We (cyclists) travel all over the world and we don't see crowds like this and we don't see atmosphere like this," he said to cheers.

"This rivals the Tour (de France), the Giro (d'Italia) and all the big races."

Fans carried signs saying "Thanks for the memories Lance" and "Lance, y'all come back now ya hear", reflecting his popularity for his contribution to the race and state. A new cancer research facility in Adelaide bears the name of his Livestrong Foundation.

Meyer finished 20th on the final stage, credited with the same time as Swift who won his second stage of the tour, and defended the overall lead he held for the last three stages. He led by 8 seconds from Goss at the start of the final stage and was able to hold off the late challenge of his Australian rival, despite Goss's desperate efforts and those of his Highroad teammates.

For 23-year-old Meyer, Sunday's win may be a critical milestone in a career some say is bound to lift him to superstar status. He is already a winner of three world championships on the track and has now emerged as one of Australia's leading road cyclists.

"I can't thank my teammates enough. They were great," Meyer said. "And credit to Matt Goss, too. He fought right to the end."

Team HTC-Highroad riders rode at the front of the peleton throughout the race, doing everything possible to lift Goss into the overall lead. Goss finished second in the first of two intermediate sprints during the final stage to pick up 4 bonus seconds, cutting Meyer's lead to two seconds but, though he came in third on the stage behind Swift and his Sky Procycling teammate Greg Henderson of New Zealand, he couldn't close that gap.

"Unfortunately a couple of days of bad luck - a puncture at a bad time, getting caught up in a crash in stage two, maybe it was never meant to happen," Goss said.

British sprint star Mark Cavendish finished 129th and last of the riders who completed the Tour, 33 minutes, 51 seconds behind the winner. Cavendish, of the HTC-Highroad team, suffered cuts and abrasions when he crashed on the second stage and wasn't able to compete fully for the remainder of the race.

"Hopefully I'll start winning later in the year and get some stuff for the team," said Cavendish, a winner of 15 stages of the Tour de France.

"That (the Tour de France) is the biggest race of the year for the team and for the sponsors. I want to win everywhere but it's very important to win there."

Defending champion Andre Greipel (Team Omega Pharma - Lotto) of Germany, winner of the race is 2008 and 2010, finished 7th overall.

More than 772,000 fans watched the six stages of the Tour, a record for a sports event in South Aestralia, ensuring the continuing success of the race which is the first of the 2011 UCI WorldTour season.