July 26, 2005 – Kiwi sprinter Greg Henderson of the Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis won a chaotic field sprint to take the victory in Stage 2 of the International Tour de “˜Toona. The stage winner’s time bonus also moved Henderson into first place in the general classification.

“The finish was really crazy and it was hard to organize a lead-out train for Hendy,” Health Net Presented by Maxxis directeur sportif Jeff Corbett said. “It was an easy circuit and everyone in the race is fresh since it’s the first road stage. But (Mike) Sayers and (Chris) Wherry were able to help him out in the final kilometer.”

To finish things off, Henderson used a tactic similar to the one that propelled Gord Fraser around Fred Rodriguez to win Wachovia Trenton last month. Coming into the final turn 200 meters from the line, Henderson was sitting third wheel behind Mark McCormack (Colavita/Sutter Home), the race leader after the Stage 1 prologue, and Jeff Hopkins (Jittery Joe’s). Henderson backed off just a bit to create a gap to Hopkins’ wheel, then took a run at them through the last corner. The three riders came through the turn side-by-side across the road, but Henderson not only got the best line through the turn, he had the momentum to carry him up the finishing straight in front. Hopkins finished second, but McCormack faded a bit and missed out on any time bonuses. Henderson came into the stage in 4th place, but only 1.7 seconds behind McCormack.

Corbett said he hadn’t decided yet whether the team would defend Henderson’s narrow overall lead, adding that how well Henderson rides in Wednesday’s difficult, hilly stage could determine the strategy.

“A lot of it’s up to Hendy,” Corbett said. The former track world champion and Olympian has improved his climbing ability significantly this year, but, Corbett added, “He hasn’t done a lot of climbing recently. If he’s still in the front group after the final climb, then I think we can get him to the finish and maybe another win and time bonus. The stages on Thursday and Friday are more suited to his riding style. If he can pick up more time bonuses in those stages and his lead is closer to a minute going into the final two stages, which have a lot of climbing, we might be able to keep him in the leader’s jersey.

“But,” Corbett continued, “we have so many threats on our team that it gives us a lot of options.” A quick look at the Health Net Presented by Maxxis Tour de “˜Toona roster shows five riders who have won overall titles in NRC stage races this season. It remains to be seen whether Henderson becomes the sixth.

“All that really matters is that one of our guys has the leader’s jersey at the end of the stage on Sunday,” Corbett added.

Results

1 Greg Henderson (NZL) Health Net pb Maxxis
2 Jeff Hopkins (USA) Jittery Joe’s/Kalahari
3 Martin Gilbert (Can) VW/Trek