Greg Henderson won the sprint of a three-man break in the second stage of the Geelong Tour in Australia. Henderson beat Chris Sutton and Daniel Braunsteins, just ahead of the chasing peloton. The latter was brought home by Graeme Brown, who defended his overall lead.
Henderson had to chase away some flies on this hot day during the post-race interview with ozcycling. "I am really happy with the win. I had a funny feeling the break would stick today. Obviously the hardest part was getting into the break that was going to make it."
Henderson was attentive from the gun. "I had a good go at it in the first half hour and I used up quite a bit of energy. Then I sat back back 15-20 minutes." He had some help from prominent teammate Robbie McEwen, who went off the front. "Robbie took out the slack. When he got caught I knew it was another good chance to go. Sure enough it went right away and I was lucky enough to be the fastest in the end."
It wasn't only luck, but also the determined power of Henderson and Sutton to stay up front, a fact that yellow jersey Brow acknowledged. "It was a very tough race today. Like last year, my team did a really great job and they gave it everything they had. Greg Henderson and Chris Sutton aren't bad bike riders. It was always going to be a tough job to bring them back."
Brown was still happy to have defended the lead. "There were classy riders up front, who went all out. We nearly caught the third guy [Braunsteins]. I am happy with the way I am sprinting. I took the bunch sprint and I get to keep yellow for another day."
Henderson drew some extra motivation from his move to Team Sky. "Yes, I am absolutely motivated. You want to come out of the Tour Down Under [January 19-25] in good condition and show that Sky is a here-to-stay sort of thing." Henderson loved the summer weather in the European winter time. "It's easy in Australia to find good condition."
Gilmore again
In the women's race, Rochelle Gilmore won again, but with a much smaller margin than yesterday. "It was a tough day. There were moves going and it was a faster race [than yesterday]. With the hill in it it made it hard on the legs."
The sprint wasn't quite textbook. "I was forced to lead out the sprint early. It came down to a couple of centimeters, so it was an exciting finish." But her team wasn't to blame to deliver her to a better sprinting position. "The team followed orders perfectly and everybody is in good form. We have two more days to go and we are very confident with that position," Gilmore said about defending the yellow jersey.
If she has it her way, she won't be winning stage three. "I hope tomorrow we can get one of my teammates in the break and hopefully we see someone else from the Honda Dream Team take the win tomorrow."
Elite men's stage 2 results
1. Greg Henderson (Mazda)
2. Chris Sutton (Skilled/Lowe Farms)
3. Daniel Braunsteins (Degani Cycling Cafe)
4. Graeme Brown (Urban)
5. Robbie McEwen (Mazda)
6. Baden Cooke (Skilled/Lowe Farms)
7. Matthew Goss (Degani Cycling Cafe)
8. Joel Pearson (Genesys Wealth Advisers)
9. Koen de Kort (O2 Networks)
10. Nicholas Walker (Degani Cycling Cafe)
Overall Standings after stage 2
1. Graeme Brown (Urban)