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Denpasar. Eric Sheppard earned himself an early birthday gift by winning the Tour d’Indonesia in his debut.

The Australian emerged victorious despite not winning a single stage of the 1,349.4-kilometer race, which ended in Denpasar on Wednesday. He finished atop the individual standings with a total time of 34 hours, 23 minutes and 21 seconds.

Sheppard took 16th place in the final stage, a 97-kilometer race from Kintamani to Renon, but it was enough to finish with a 17-second lead over runner-up Christoph Springer of Germany Wurtternberg. Chung Hing Chan of Hong Kong Team was third in 34:24:28.

“This is the best birthday gift that I’ve ever had and I thank my teammates for this,” said Sheppard, who will turn 21 on Monday. “I didn’t do any special preparation for this Tour, just practicing every day like all the pro cyclists do.”

While he did not win any stages, Sheppard was consistently near the front of the pack. He claimed the yellow jersey from local hope Bambang Suryadi of Polygon Sweet Nice after finishing third in the ninth stage.

Bambang had to console himself with the red and white jersey awarded to the top Indonesian racer. He took fifth place overall in 34:27:19.

PSN retained team title after completing the race in a total time of 103:25:41.

“I knew it was impossible for me to fight for the yellow jersey, so I just concentrated on helping the team retain the title and we did,” Bambang said. “However, I’m disappointed with myself because I should’ve tried harder to keep the [yellow] jersey.”

Bambang had led the Tour since the fifth stage, but he dropped out of contention after finishing five minutes behind Stage 9 winner Harm de Vries.

Hong Kong Team was second in the team standings in 103:26:15, while Germany Wurtternberg was 1:49 further behind.

Shinichi Fukushima of Terengganu Cycling Team won Wednesday’s stage, edging ahead in a three-way sprint against Global Cycling Team racers Wim Botman and De Vries.

“I wanted the yellow jersey, but I’m pleased to win this stage,” said Fukushima, the only racer to win more than one stage after also finishing first on Monday.

Fabia Nappa of Germany Wurtternberg took the polka-dot jersey as the best climber, while Malaysia National Team’s Sea Kong Loh was the top sprinter.