CYCLING

Henderson proud of effort in gruelling road race

By Cycling New Zealand

UCI ROAD CYCLING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS – Day 7 Wrap
Veteran New Zealand professional Greg Henderson was proud of his performance to finish with the main bunch in the gruelling men’s road race at the UCI World Championships in Virginia, USA today.
Henderson, who rode the second half of the race solo, was banking on the legs of star sprinter, Lotto Soudal teammate Andre Greipel and his German team to latch on to late in the 260km, 16-lap race in Richmond.

After Greipel was unable to go with the pace, Henderson finished at the back of the peloton in 58th place, 55 seconds behind winner Peter Sagan (SVK) who produced a remarkable solo burst off the front 3kms from home.

“When you are on your own the big teams just don’t let you in and on such a narrow circuit I just had to keep fight up Libby Hill each lap to pass riders,” Henderson said.
“Overall though I am pleased with my effort to be competitive in that company on that sort of course. I trained really hard for this race. I did not want the season to be defined by the injury at the Tour de France.”

Henderson, hoping his sprinter’s legs would survive the 48 climbs today, said it was a challenging day.
“It was a deceptively hard course with those three climbs in a row on each lap, especially the last 5kms leading into Libby Hill.”

Compatriot Jesse Sergent, the Trek Factory Team rider, went with the immediate break that opened a four minute buffer but once they were caught after 150kms, his daring day was done.

The other Kiwi in the race, Orica GreenEdge World Tour rider Sam Bewley, did his best to work for Henderson until he was used up late into the race.

As with the women’s race, all the breaks were eventually caught, until Sagan powered up Libby Hill for the final time to open a telling gap with some dare-devil manoeuvres downhill. He held on as the pack descended led by Australia’s Michael Matthews.

Henderson will return to Europe to complete his season with a race in Germany next weekend and conclude with the 109^thrunning of Paris-Tours.

Results:
Elite men, 260km: Peter Sagan (SVK) 6:14.37, 1; Michael Matthews (AUS) at 3 secs, 2; Ramunas Navardauskas (LTU) same time, 3. Also New Zealanders: Greg Henderson at 55s, 58; Sam Bewley and Jesse Sergent dnf.
CAPTION: Jesse Sergent leads the break during the men’s road race at the UCI Road Cycling World Championships in Richmond, Virginia today.
IMAGE CREDIT: Graham Watson.
Details: www.cyclingnewzealand.nz or www.uci.ch